JANESVILLE, Wis., May 19, 2021 – SHINE Medical Technologies LLC today announced that it has selected the municipality of Veendam in the province of Groningen, the Netherlands, as the location of its European medical isotope production facility. The decision is the culmination of a year-long search process that included the review of more than 50 proposals from sites across Europe.
SHINE’s European facility will be focused initially on the production of molybdenum-99, a diagnostic isotope relied on for procedures that identify heart disease, cancer and other conditions. SHINE’s technology can also be used to produce a broad range of other medical isotopes, including iodine-131, xenon-133 and lutetium-177 at this site. There is strong demand for lutetium-177 from clinical trial sponsors because of its potential to revolutionize the treatment of cancer patients. SHINE has begun production of Lu-177 at a facility on its U.S. campus.
“SHINE’s selection of the municipality of Veendam as the site for our second production facility is great news for physicians and patients throughout Europe,” said Harrie Buurlage, SHINE’s vice president of European operations. “The production facility will be a solution for all of Europe, enabling SHINE to deliver a reliable, flexible supply of a broad range of critical medical isotopes to European customers, starting with molybdenum-99. We look forward to working with our new partners in Veendam, the province of Groningen and the Netherlands.”
Veendam was selected because of the area’s strong support for the development and production of lifesaving medicine, its passion for innovation and the availability of highly skilled and educated workers. Veendam also provides easy transportation access to the European market, the presence of the highly regarded royal university and accelerator technology knowledge and infrastructure.
“The selection of the location for our new European facility is another demonstration of SHINE’s commitment to being the world leader in the production of vital medical isotopes,” said Greg Piefer, SHINE’s chairman and CEO. “We know that with our leadership comes a responsibility to European physicians and patients that we take seriously. We look forward to ensuring that they have a reliable supply of the isotopes they need when they need them. Progress on our U.S. facility continues and our experience with that project will be important during our work on the new facility in Veendam.”
When the European facility is completed, it will be capable of producing double the European patient need for molybdenum-99 and when combined with the capacity of SHINE’s U.S. plant, the two plants will be able to produce 70 percent of the global patient need. The production facility will be driven by nuclear technology that does not require a reactor and is cleaner, safer and more sustainable than a nuclear research reactor.
Construction of SHINE’s new production facility is expected to begin in 2023. SHINE expects that commercial production will begin in late 2025. The plant will employ roughly 200 workers when it is fully operational. While the facility is being built, SHINE’s construction partners will employ additional workers from the area.
Based in Janesville, Wisconsin, SHINE deploys its safe, cost-effective and environmentally friendly fusion technology in a stepwise approach. Its systems are used to inspect industrial components in aerospace, defense, energy and other sectors. SHINE’s proprietary medical isotope production processes create non-carrier-added lutetium-177 and are expected to create molybdenum-99. In the future, SHINE plans to scale its fusion technology to help solve one of energy’s toughest hurdles by recycling nuclear waste. Through a purpose-driven and phased approach, SHINE aims to generate fusion power to deliver clean, abundant energy that could transform life on Earth. Want to learn more about SHINE? Follow us on social media @shinefusion and sign up for our email newsletter to follow us on our journey!
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