October 27, 2011:
Nordion Issues Statement Upon Chalk River Operating Licence Renewal
Nordion is pleased to hear that the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) has renewed the Operating Licence for Atomic Energy Canada Limited’s (AECL) Chalk River Laboratories to October 31, 2016. Nordion was one of many stakeholders and interest groups that participated in the relicensing public hearing process. On October 4, 2011, Nordion gave a presentation to the Commission about the importance of a stable isotope supply for the global medical community.
Nordion continues to have full confidence in AECL’s Chalk River facilities. The Company is committed to providing customers, physicians and their patients with a reliable, safe, long-term supply of medical isotopes.
September 21, 2011:
News Reports Provide Insight into Isotopes Being Produced in Russia
Nordion’s priority remains the safe and reliable supply of high-quality medical isotopes to meet the needs of our customers, the medical community and the patients they serve.
To this end, in September 2010, Nordion entered into a supply agreement with a Russian Federation partner, The Open Joint Stock Company "Isotope" (Isotope) for a supplemental supply of Molybdenum-99 (Mo-99) until 2020. This initiative is part of an umbrella framework agreement between Nordion and Isotope, to explore and define areas of collaboration in the field of supply, marketing and sale of isotopes produced in Russia.
The objective of the supply agreement with Isotope is to provide Nordion with a new source of Mo-99 for its customer base and to strengthen Nordion's global supply chain by providing additional supply to help offset the impact of the planned shutdowns of Atomic Energy of Canada Limited's National Research Universal reactor.
The RIA Novosti (Russian News Agency) article and video below provide a rare glimpse into the important work being conducted to bring the new Mo-99 supply online. These reports, published on Sept. 7, 2011, state that the Research Institute of Atomic Reactors (RIAR) at Dimitrovgrad is expanding its output of Mo-99—the parent isotope of technetium-99m, which is used in approximately 80 per cent of nuclear medical procedures worldwide:
Article by RIA Novosti (Russian News Agency, Sept. 7, 2011)
The Program for Development of Nuclear Medicine in Russia
May be Approved in Three Months
(Unofficial translation. Originally published Sept. 7, 2011 by RIA Novosti. View original Russian-language version at http://www.remedium.ru/news/detail.php?ID=46955)
The program for development of nuclear medicine in Russia may be approved in early December of this year, said director of "Radiation Technologies" of State Corporation "Rosatom" Mikhail Batkov.
"Together with colleagues from the relevant ministries and agencies, we have developed a draft Program for development of nuclear medicine in Russia, which would solve a number of critical issues, including qualitative and quantitative improvement of the diagnostics and treatment of cancer and heart disease, modernization and renewal of technical equipment of Russian medical institutions, and training of its specialists. Implementation of the Program should lead to the development of the radiopharmaceuticals market in Russia due to the increased investments. The prices for radiopharmaceuticals in Russia will be significantly reduced. It is expected that the Program may be approved as early as December of this year," said Batkov.
According to him, the world's leading experts will be discussing the prospects for development of the isotopes markets during the course of the 7th International Conference on Isotopes, which opened on September 5th in Moscow. Mr. Batkov has also mentioned that historically "Rosatom" has a strong technological background, established during "the Soviet times, when the radiation technologies were actively developed and applied on a large scale in all sectors of the state economy." "The industry has accumulated a huge experience, retained professional staff, we have the capacity, have knowledge and experience for the successful development of this sector," he said.
State Corporation representatives also said that "Rosatom" was able to substantially reduce the prices for radiopharmaceuticals supplied to the Russian market.
"We have been facing complaints from patients and the management of health facilities regarding the high prices for radiopharmaceuticals. State Corporation “Rosatom” has implemented a set of measures to reduce their prices starting the summer of this year. The price for technetium generators and radiopharmaceuticals with iodine-131 isotope has been considerably reduced," he said.
According to Mr. Batkov, in order to further reduce the prices for radiopharmaceuticals an increase in supply is required.
“Recently we have made four shipments of Mo-99 to the Federal State Unitary Enterprise named after L. Y. Karpov for production of technetium-99 generators due to the planned maintenance shutdown of its reactor. The supply of the isotope Mo-99 to the domestic market has come from Institute of Nuclear Reactors in Dimitrovgrad. Currently we are completing debugging and commissioning of the technology and production facility there. Everything goes according to the schedule approved by the Presidential Committee overseeing the project. Nordion is preparing for the certification of the product. Therefore, as we can see the project is developing," he added.
“There is a good prospect for Russia to take significant share of the global market for supply of Mo-99”, noted representative of "Rosatom". "The whole production output of Mo-99 will be distributed to the world markets under the contract with Nordion. I think we shall be able to achieve up to 20% of the global market share of Mo-99 supply from Russia within one and a half to two years," he said. The Framework Agreement on strategic cooperation between the JSC "Isotope" (supplier of isotope products in Russian and world markets) and the Canadian company Nordion was signed on September 23, 2010.
Molybdenum-99 is the isotope most widely used in nuclear medicine. It decays to the short-lived isotope technetium-99, which is used in up to 30 million procedures per year around the world (80% of all diagnostic procedures using radionuclides).
The medical isotopes are used to diagnose and treat a number of diseases in oncology, cardiology and neurology. State Corporation "Rosatom" plans to establish a large-scale production for molybdenum-99 at the "State Scientific Center - Research Institute of Atomic Reactors" in Dimitrovgrad.
Currently the State Corporation "Rosatom" produces about 22% of all industrial isotopes in the world, and for some isotopes, such as helium-3, and nickel-63, Russia's market share is 100%.
JSC "Isotope "is a subsidiary of the State Corporation "Rosatom", the company responsible for supply of the isotopes. Nordion is a global company with headquarters in Canada, specializing in innovative technologies in nuclear medicine and radiotherapy. Nordion has been founded in 1946 and produces a wide range of products that are used for the production of radiopharmaceuticals (diagnosis of heart disease and various cancers), including manufacturing and marketing of medical isotopes, i.e. molybdenum-99, iodine-131 and iodine-125, cobalt-60 and others. Nordion also produces equipment for the sterilization of medical surgical equipment and medical devices, foods and cosmetics.
In Russia, in varying degrees, there are more than 100 nuclear medicine facilities conducting diagnostics, carrying out in vivo studies (injection of drugs directly to patients), more than 200 laboratories for the radioimmunoassay of blood samples (in vitro) and a number of specialized nuclear medicine departments in large state hospitals. By international standards, the nuclear medicine diagnostic and therapy units should be available in each multi-discipline hospital and all major cancer centers.
Around the world, nuclear medicine currently deploys more than 130 different methods for diagnostics and radiotherapies performed on the most modern equipment and with a variety of medical isotopes.
Source: RIA News
Video by RIA Novosti (Russian News Agency, Sept. 7, 2011)
Video: Russian News Agency reports isotopes produced in nuclear reactor
(RIA Novosti: Sep. 7, 2011)
Nordion Mo-99 Supply Chain Graphic
Nordion Video – Logistics of Lifesaving: Two Days in the Life of Mo-99
As leaders in the nuclear medicine industry, we take the responsibility to the markets we serve very seriously.
Watch this video to understand the Logistics of Lifesaving: Two Days in the Life of Mo-99.
