The
announcement was celebrated at ITM’s headquarters in Munich, Germany, along
with representatives of the partnership organizations during a trade mission
with Vic Fedeli, Ontario’s Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and
Trade.
This
milestone was achieved following completion of final commissioning and
regulatory approval from the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission and is the
culmination of a multi-year project to install a novel Isotope Production
System (IPS) in Bruce Power’s Unit 7. It marks the first-of-its-kind
achievement of a commercial power reactor with additional capability to commercially
produce short-lived medical isotopes.
The
IPS will provide reliable, industrial-scale production of lutetium-177, a medical
isotope used for targeted cancer therapeutics. Lutetium-177 is used to deploy
precision nuclear medicine that precisely targets malignant cells while sparing
surrounding healthy tissues.
"Ontario’s
nuclear industry supports thousands of high-skilled jobs and is at the
forefront when it comes to innovation,” said Premier Doug Ford. “Today’s
announcement is a huge step forward in advancing Ontario as a world leader of
isotope production in the fight against cancer. This unique international
project using Made-in-Ontario infrastructure will help doctors and patients at
home and around the world have greater access to the life-saving isotopes they
need.”
“It
is with great pride that we at Bruce Power, along with our partners at Isogen,
ITM and Saugeen Ojibway Nation, celebrate the successful commencement of
commercial operation of the world’s first large-scale Isotope Production System
for the production of lutetium-177,” said Mike Rencheck, Bruce Power’s
President and CEO. “This announcement is the result of years of dedication and
comes thanks to the hard work and innovative spirit of thousands of employees
across this unique international partnership.”
The
Made-in-Ontario IPS, designed and installed by Isogen at Bruce Power, irradiates ytterbium-176
to produce lutetium-177, which is then transported to ITM’s manufacturing
facility in Germany for processing of pharmaceutical-grade, non-carrier-added lutetium-177
(n.c.a. lutetium-177). ITM is a supplier
of n.c.a. lutetium-177 to health care facilities around the world, and the isotope has been successfully
used in various clinical and commercial radiopharmaceutical cancer treatments.
“Today we celebrate the efforts of Bruce Power, ITM, our
Kinectrics staff, and our partner in Isogen, Framatome, whose collective
efforts enabled the start of commercial supply of lutetium-177,” said David
Harris, CEO of Kinectrics. “This day marks a paradigm shift in medical isotope
supply wherein the international medical community can now depend on scalable,
reliable, Canadian, power-reactor produced isotopes for their cancer
treatments.”
The
IPS will leverage Bruce Power’s continual operations 24 hours a day, seven days
a week to provide a consistent and scalable supply of life-saving isotopes that
will be used by doctors to treat cancer patients around the world.
“We commemorate this historical accomplishment that promises potentially
life-saving medical treatments for cancer patients,” said Bernard Fontana, CEO
of Framatome. “Our shared vision with our Isogen partner Kinectrics, and Bruce
Power, working with ITM, has led to this significant milestone. We are proud of
our teams who have persevered to design, develop, install and implement this
ambitious and complex project. As part of our Framatome Healthcare brand, we
are honored to play a critical role in ensuring a reliable supply of isotopes,
including lutetium-177, to the medical communities around the world.”
Commercial
operation of the IPS will provide large-scale production of lutetium-177 at a
time when global demand for these short-lived isotopes is on the rise. ITM
holds a U.S. Drug Master File (DMF) with the FDA for n.c.a. lutetium-177 and
has marketing authorization in the EU (brand name EndolucinBeta®). ITM has exclusive access to the irradiation
service provided by the IPS for the production of lutetium-177 and will use the
increased supply of high-quality isotopes from the IPS to meet the growing
demand by physicians and patients.
“As
the largest global provider of high-quality n.c.a lutetium-177 for therapeutic
cancer treatments we are always looking to expand our production network to
secure supply to provide access to hospitals and patients worldwide, and this
collaboration is a testament to this commitment,” added Steffen Schuster, CEO
of ITM. “We are grateful to our partners for this smooth scale up to commercial
production which will ensure production security for our own Phase 3 assets as
well as our commitment to currently approved targeted radionuclide therapies
leveraging lutetium-177.”
Vic
Fedeli, Ontario’s Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade,
expressed support of the international collaboration and its advancement of
Ontario as a global hub for isotope production and innovation.
"International partnerships such as this
one between Bruce Power, Isogen and ITM are paving the way for future
innovation in key sectors in Ontario," said Minister Fedeli.
"Congratulations to everyone involved in this milestone achievement in the
production of life-saving medical isotopes! Together, we are building Ontario
and continuing to ensure the province is a leader in the life sciences sector
and the global isotope supply chain.”
Bruce Power will collaborate with Saugeen
Ojibway Nation to market the new isotope supply in an equity partnership named Gamzook’aamin
Aakoziwin.
“The Gamzook’aamin Aakoziwin project has been years in the making, and today
marks another exciting milestone on the road to help in the global fight
against cancer,” said Chief Conrad Ritchie, Chippewas of Saugeen First Nation.
“These medical isotopes will be used to help patients receive treatments in the
battle against cancer not just at home in our communities, but across the
world.”
“We are proud to be a part of this innovative
project, which will have a positive impact worldwide on the health care
community,” said Chief Veronica Smith, Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation.
“Working together through this partnership, we are playing a leadership role in
the fight against cancer and continuing to increase access to isotopes that are
critical to innovative treatment and diagnosis of cancer.”
Learn
more about how isotopes help to keep hospitals safe, as well as diagnose and
treat cancer at www.brucepower.com/isotopes.
About Bruce Power
Bruce
Power is an electricity company based in Bruce County, Ontario. We are powered
by our people. Our 4,200 employees are the foundation of our accomplishments
and are proud of the role they play in safely delivering clean, reliable,
low-cost nuclear power to families and businesses across the province and
life-saving medical isotopes around the world. Bruce Power has worked hard to
build strong roots in Ontario and is committed to protecting the environment
and supporting the communities in which we live. Formed in 2001, Bruce Power is
a Canadian-owned partnership of TC Energy, OMERS, the Power Workers’ Union and
The Society of United Professionals. Learn more at www.brucepower.com and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and YouTube.
About Isogen
Isogen is a joint venture
between Framatome and Kinectrics, whose
mission is to enable the use of CANDU reactors to produce the medical isotopes
needed to treat and diagnose patients with serious diseases
world-wide. Isogen’s enabling partnerships with Bruce
Power and ITM allows us to produce the world’s largest and most reliable
supply of life-saving, short-lived, therapeutic medical isotopes. Learn more at
www.isogen.ca
and follow us on LinkedIn.
About ITM Isotope Technologies Munich SE
ITM, a leading radiopharmaceutical biotech company,
is dedicated to providing a new generation of radiomolecular precision
therapeutics and diagnostics for hard-to-treat tumors. We aim to meet the needs
of cancer patients, clinicians and our partners through excellence in development,
production and global supply. With improved patient benefit as the driving
principle for all we do, ITM advances a broad precision oncology pipeline,
including two phase III studies, combining the company’s high-quality radioisotopes
with a range of targeting molecules. By leveraging our nearly two decades of
pioneering radiopharma expertise, central industry position and established
global network, ITM strives to provide patients with more effective targeted
treatment to improve clinical outcome and quality of life. Further information
at: www.itm-radiopharma.com
ITM Medical Isotopes GmbH, a 100% subsidiary of ITM Isotope Technologies
Munich SE, had signed a supply arrangement for lutetium-177 with Isogen in
2020.
For more information, contact:
Bruce Power: John Peevers, 519-386-3799, j[email protected]
Isogen: Brandon Emrich,
647-501-2118, [email protected] (Kinectrics) [email protected] (Framatome)
ITM: Julia Hofmann, +49 89 329 8986 1500, [email protected]