New pilot production for targeted cancer treatments

A brand new isotope production facility and a step towards pharmaceuticals

The construction of the brand new production facility 'Centralized Radiochemical Facility' (CRF) marks another promising step in the fight against cancer. The CRF building will play a prominent role in the pilot production of therapeutic radioisotopes and radiopharmaceuticals, the future of targeted cancer treatments. During this kind of therapy, a radioisotope is transported by a carrier molecule with extreme precision to cancer cells to attack them locally and disrupt the tumour cell's DNA. Healthy tissue remains largely unaffected with targeted therapy.

Thanks to the CRF, the supply of medical isotopes, both for research into new radiopharmaceuticals in clinical trials and for therapy in hospitals, can be ensured. By 2025, the CRF will supply Lutetium 177, a promising isotope in the treatment of prostate cancer and neuroendocrine cancers, to treat more than 15,000 cancer patients in Europe every year.

The facility is also equipped to process promising next-generation isotopes such as Terbium 161, also used to treat prostate cancer and neuroendocrine cancers.

Besides the supply of radioisotopes, the CRF will also act as a pilot facility in which new production processes developed at lab scale can be scaled up to reliable commercial processes according to 'good manufacturing practice' (GMP). A step towards pharmaceuticals, in other words.