The American Nuclear Society reports that SHINE Medical Technologies, based in Janesville, Wisconsin has announced that it has made its first commercial sales of lutetium-177 to multiple customers. Lu-177 is a therapeutic isotope in demand by clinical trial sponsors because of its potential to treat a range of cancers. It works by directly irradiating cancer cells after being delivered to the cancer site by a targeting molecule. Lu-177 is used to treat neuroendocrine cancers and shows promise for the treatment of metastatic prostate and other cancers.
SHINE’s production process allows them to produce the high specific activity, non-carrier-added Lu-177 that is required by today’s clinical trials. In the short term, SHINE will produce Lu-177 at Building One of the company’s Janesville campus while a larger facility is being constructed exclusively for the production of the radioisotope. Building One, which was completed in 2018, is home to SHINE’s first integrated, full-size production system and is used to train staff and develop operating history with the equipment.
SHINE plans to build a new production facility that will be able to scale to support the company’s anticipated Lu-177 demand for the next five years. It will be capable of producing more than 300,000 doses of Lu-177 per year.