First-of-a-kind Isotope Production System continues
to progress towards commercial, industrial-scale production of medical isotopes
for cancer therapeutics
ONTARIO, CANADA, and MUNICH, GERMANY: An
international collaboration between Bruce Power, Isogen (a Kinectrics and
Framatome company), and ITM Isotope Technologies Munich SE (ITM), announced
today a milestone marking the first instance lutetium-177, a short-lived
medical isotope, has been produced in a commercial nuclear power reactor.
This
milestone was achieved using a new Isotope Production System (IPS) that was
installed in Bruce Power’s Unit 7 during a recent planned maintenance outage.
The IPS successfully irradiated targets to produce lutetium-177, a medical
isotope used in precision oncology for targeted therapy of a growing number of
cancers. Lutetium-177 based treatments are designed to precisely target malignant
cells while sparing surrounding healthy tissues.
“Bruce
Power and our partners at Isogen, ITM, and Saugeen Ojibway Nation are thrilled
to have reached this exciting milestone, bringing our partnership project to
its final phase as we complete commissioning and approach commercial
operations,” said James Scongack, Bruce Power’s Chief Development Officer and Executive
Vice President, Operational Services. “Today’s announcement is the culmination
of years of hard work by hundreds of dedicated people and we are proud to
demonstrate the power of using Bruce Power’s CANDU reactors to provide large-scale,
reliable production of critical medical isotopes to use in the fight against
cancer.”
As
part of commissioning activities, ytterbium-176 was successfully irradiated using the IPS,
designed and installed by Isogen, to produce lutetium-177. These
isotopes were then sent to ITM in Germany for processing, using its proprietary
manufacturing methodology and industrial scale production capacities yielding
high-quality, pharmaceutical-grade no-carrier-added lutetium-177 (n.c.a. lutetium-177),
which ITM provides to health care facilities around the world. n.c.a. lutetium-177 has
been successfully used in various clinical and commercial radiopharmaceutical
cancer treatments. ITM holds a U.S. DMF with
the FDA for n.c.a. lutetium-177
and has marketing
authorization in the EU (brand name EndolucinBeta®).
“Following
commissioning of the IPS, physicians and their patients worldwide will have
access to a new, dependable supply of lutetium-177 for their cancer
treatments,” said David Harris, CEO of Kinectrics. “Moreover, through our
partner ITM, pharmaceutical developers can rely on a large-scale supply of lutetium-177
for their clinical trials and commercial products. This milestone demonstrates Kinectrics,
Bruce Power, ITM and Framatome’s commitment to innovation and ability to
mobilize, as well as complete a large-scale EPC project with both local
economic and global health care impact.”
“Accomplishing the design,
development, installation, and implementation milestones of a complex project
such as the IPS demands a high level of expertise and commitment,” said
François Gauché, Director of Framatome Healthcare at Framatome. “We
congratulate our Isogen project team working with Bruce Power, who achieved
each milestone with tenacity, and we are looking forward to the first delivery
of lutetium-177 to ITM. We applaud Bruce Power’s commitment to innovation that
supports the continuous production of both electricity and medical isotopes,
and to harnessing the therapeutic power of nuclear energy. We are proud to play
a critical role in developing this production system that supports the value
chain for the radiopharmaceutical isotopes used for diagnostic imaging and
therapeutic purposes.”
ITM
will receive exclusive access to the irradiation service provided by the IPS
for the production of lutetium-177, further expanding its capabilities of
producing this high-quality isotope at a large scale for hospitals worldwide, global
partners, and ITM’s own clinical pipeline of radiopharmaceuticals for
hard-to-treat cancers.
“This
cutting-edge, first-of-its-kind irradiation site is the result of the combined
expertise of Bruce Power, Isogen and ITM, the great commitment of our partners
and our joint belief in the importance of lutetium-177 in novel cancer
therapy,” said Steffen Schuster, CEO at ITM. “The exclusive access to the new
Isotope Production System will allow ITM to further scale our global pharmaceutical
n.c.a. lutetium-177 production, which is critical to meet the growing demand of
high-quality medical isotopes for use in Targeted Radionuclide Therapy for
cancer patients worldwide.”
Bruce
Power will market the new isotope supply in an historic collaboration
partnership with Saugeen Ojibway Nation (SON). The partnership project with
SON, named Gamzook’aamin Aakoziwin, includes an equity stake for SON and a
revenue-sharing program that provides a direct benefit to the community.
“Today’s
announcement is a big win for our Gamzook’aamin Aakoziwin project, which is on
track to meet the increasing demand from doctors and cancer patients around the
world for medical isotopes,” said Chief Veronica Smith, Chippewas of Nawash
Unceded First Nation. “We all know somebody who has been affected by cancer,
and Saugeen Ojibway Nation is proud of the part we have played, and will
continue to play, in this project to help those who need treatment from these
innovative medicines.”
“As
researchers look for new ways to fight cancer, lutetium-177 has been turned to
as a way to treat patients in a non-invasive way,” added Chief Lester Anoquot,
Chippewas of Saugeen First Nation. “This project is coming online when demand
for treatments is increasing daily, and it will provide a much-needed source of
these isotopes for patients close to home, in our communities, and around the
world.”
With
this milestone now achieved, commissioning activities will be completed this
summer and will be followed by commercial operations, pending final regulatory review
and approval by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC).
Learn
more about how isotopes help to keep hospitals safe, as well as diagnose and
treat cancer at www.brucepower.com/isotopes.
Find out more by
viewing a video about today’s announcement here.
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 1502, [email protected]