July 16, 2019 – NorthStar Medical Radioisotopes LLC announced completion of construction on its 20,000-square-foot molybdenum-99 (Mo-99) processing facility in Beloit, Wis., with equipment installation currently underway. Establishing this processing facility is part of NorthStar’s staged development and dual processing pathway approach to expanding current capacity and efficiencies in Mo-99 production.
Domestically produced, non-uranium based Mo-99 is used in NorthStar’s RadioGenix System (technetium 99m generator). Commercially available and U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved, the RadioGenix System is a high-tech separation platform for processing non-uranium/non-highly enriched uranium based Mo-99 for production of the important medical radioisotope, technetium-99m (Tc-99m), the most widely used diagnostic imaging radioisotope.
Along with its partners at the University of Missouri Research Reactor (MURR), NorthStar is consistently providing domestic, non-uranium-based Mo-99 now and is actively planning for the future, according to the company. Upon appropriate licensure and FDA approval, the processing facility in Beloit will augment current processing at MURR, providing dual production hubs for Mo-99. The facility will house state-of-the-art Mo-99 dissolution and source vessel filling equipment, as well as support a quality control laboratory, an automated packaging line and an advanced molybdenum recycling complex.
NorthStar President and CEO Stephen Merrick said the new facility will enable the company to double production of RadioGenix System source vessels, which are used by radiopharmacies to product Tc-99m for physicians and their patients.
In addition to the processing facility expansion, Merrick said NorthStar is working toward final validation of two state-of-the-art fill lines at its Columbia, Mo., facility that, pending expected FDA approval in 2019, will further substantially increase the number of Mo-99 source vessels that can be shipped to customers weekly.
Read the article "NorthStar Medical Radioisotopes Breaks Ground for New Facility in Beloit, Wis."
For more information: www.northstarnm.com
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