Lantheus Holdings, the parent company of global imaging manufacturer Lantheus Medical Imaging, has announced the first commercial shipment of Xenon Xe 133 Gas (Xenon 133), an imaging agent used when imaging the lungs, using unprocessed radiochemical Xenon 133 from Belgium’s Institute for Radioelements (IRE).

This shipment, Lantheus said, means “the medical community has continued access to Xenon 133 through 2016 and beyond.”

“As the leading provider of Xenon 133, we have delivered on our commitment to the U.S. medical imaging community to secure consistent supply of this important imaging agent to meet the needs of patients now and in the future,” Bill Dawes, Lantheus vice president of manufacturing and operations, said in a prepared statement. “Through our exceptional quality, regulatory, technical and commercial collaboration with IRE, a world leader in the production of medical isotopes, we continue to provide solutions to our customers and the patients that they serve. We look forward to a long and productive relationship with IRE for Xenon 133 and Molybdenum-99.”

IRE is scheduled to fully replace the National Research Universal reactor in Canada as Lantheus’ source for Xenon 133 later this year. Jean-Michel Vanderhofstadt, IRE CEO, commented on the working relationship between his company and Lantheus.

“We are happy to be working with Lantheus and expanding our commitment to patients in the United States,” Vanderhofstadt said in the same statement. “Providing for an uninterrupted high-quality supply of Xenon 133 and Molybdenum-99 are key priorities for our team while we simultaneously work to ensure that our important LEU conversion program meets the needs of its global stakeholders in the future. I am particularly grateful to the project team for outstanding cooperation and team work—Lantheus and IRE have completed in record time an important project which has averted the potential shortage of a critical diagnostic imaging agent. We look forward to our continued work with Lantheus and our continued role in providing important medical isotopes to clinicians and patients in North America.”

Previous Radiology Business coverage of Lantheus Holdings can be read here and here.