Officials from Lansing, Mich.-based Niowave say the company has produced molybdenum-99 (Mo-99) with a superconducting electron linear accelerator. The news was first reported by the Lansing State Journal.
“Production of molybdenum 99 is a several-hundred-million-dollar-a-year industry, and it's all outside of the U.S.,” Jerry Hollister, Niowave COO, told the newspaper. “It’s an industry in which we can be the center across the world for isotopes.”
According to the Journal, Niowave is planning on applying to amend its licence with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to increase production of Mo-99.
This development continues a busy October for medical isotope production news. Two Wisconsin-based companies, NorthStar Medical Radioisotopes and SHINE Medical Technologies, received funding from the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) earlier this month to develop Mo-99.
SHINE also announced this week that the NRC has recommended approval of a new manufacturing plant.
Michael has more than 16 years of experience as a professional writer and editor. He has written at length about cardiology, radiology, artificial intelligence and other key healthcare topics.