SHINE Medical Technologies of the USA has selected the municipality of Veendam in the province of Groningen, the Netherlands, as the location of its European medical isotope production facility. The company is currently building its first production facility, using its transformational non-reactor technology, in Janesville, Wisconsin.
SHINE said Veendam was selected following a year-long search process that included the review of more than 50 proposals from sites across Europe. It added that Veendam was selected because of “the area’s strong support for the development and production of life-saving medicine, its passion for innovation and the availability of highly-skilled and educated workers.” In addition, the municipality provides easy transportation access to the European market, the presence of the highly-regarded royal university and accelerator technology knowledge and infrastructure.
Construction of the Veendam facility is expected to begin in 2023, with commercial production to start in late 2025.
SHINE’s European facility will be focused initially on the production of molybdenum-99 (Mo-99), a diagnostic isotope relied on for procedures that identify heart disease, cancer and other conditions. When completed, the Veendam plant will be capable of producing double the European patient need for Mo-99. Its technology can also be used to produce a broad range of other medical isotopes, including iodine-131, xenon-133 and lutetium-177 at the site.
“SHINE’s selection of the municipality of Veendam as the site for our second production facility is great news for physicians and patients throughout Europe,” said Harrie Buurlage, SHINE’s vice president of European operations. “The production facility will be a solution for all of Europe, enabling SHINE to deliver a reliable, flexible supply of a broad range of critical medical isotopes to European customers, starting with molybdenum-99. We look forward to working with our new partners in Veendam, the province of Groningen and the Netherlands.”
SHINE broke ground on construction of its US production facility in May 2019. The Janesville plant is expected to be the largest medical isotope production facility in the world by capacity. SHINE is installing the specialised process equipment in the facility during the next year, and expects to begin producing Mo-99 in late 2022. The facility will be capable of supplying two-thirds of US patient demand for Mo-99.
The Janesville and Veendam plants will be able to produce 70% of the global patient need, SHINE said.
Source: World Nuclear News
