NorthStar Medical Isotopes has produced the first batch of molybdenum-99 (Mo-99) at its recently completed therapeutic radioisotope production facility in Beloit, WI.
The facility's proprietary electron accelerator technology reached a "two beams on target" milestone, validating the company's proof of concept for large-scale domestic Mo-99 production without the use of uranium, according to the company.
With its new capabilities, the facility has the potential to nearly double its commercial-scale Mo-99 production using a single target set, and augments NorthStar's ongoing domestic Mo-99 production in collaboration with the University of Missouri Research Reactor, NorthStar added.
"Once our newly completed Accelerator Production facility is licensed and operational, NorthStar will have sufficient total production capability to meet nearly 40% of U.S. demand for Mo-99," said Frank Scholz, PhD, president and chief operating officer of NorthStar, in a statement.
Mo-99 is the parent radioisotope of technetium-99m (Tc-99m), the most widely used diagnostic imaging radioisotope.
