MONONA, WI – April 3, 2014 SHINE Medical Technologies, Inc. (SHINE), a Wisconsin‐based company dedicated to being the world leader in safe, clean, affordable production of medical isotopes, announced today that it has entered into a strategic long‐term supply agreement with GE Healthcare, a division of the General Electric Company, for supply of molybdenum‐99 (moly‐99).This is the first announcement of a major supply agreement with a U.S. based producer of moly‐99. Moly‐99 decays into the diagnostic imaging agent technetium‐99m (Tc‐99m). Tc‐99m’s extraordinary attributes make it the most commonly‐used medical isotope on the planet (used in over 40 million medical imaging procedures per year). Under the terms of the supply agreement, SHINE will provide moly‐99 to GE Healthcare on a regular basis once its facility becomes operational.
SHINE Medical was founded to deploy a safe, cost‐effective and environmentally friendly technology to produce medical isotopes, including the supply of moly‐99 in the United States. In 2010, SHINE was selected as one of four commercial entities that the U.S. Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration has established partnerships with to accelerate the establishment of a reliable U.S. domestic supply of moly‐99 produced without the use of highly enriched uranium (HEU).
“GE Healthcare is very pleased to have entered into a long‐term supply agreement with SHINE. The technology represents a significant, safe and viable option for the production of molybdenum‐99 in the future. We believe SHINE will help secure supply for global medical communities and their patients,” said Jan Makela, GM of GE Healthcare Life Sciences Core Imaging.
“Canada has announced its intention to discontinue moly‐99 production at the very aged NRU reactor in 2016. As a result, the western hemisphere will lose its only large‐scale producer of medical isotopes, and the world will lose its biggest single supplier. Because medical isotopes decay so quickly, it’s essential that the United States establish its own domestic production to meet the needs of our 20 million patients each year. In addition, SHINE will contribute to the strength of the global supply chain,” said Greg Piefer, Ph.D., founder and chief executive officer of SHINE. “The beauty of our approach is that we can produce isotopes much more efficiently than current producers through the use of new technology, and produce an identical product, which can be used plug‐and‐play by companies that have proven performance in medical imaging, like General Electric. By entering into this supply agreement with SHINE, GE Healthcare is effectively affirming that SHINE presents the best new option for western production, and a strong option for supply around the globe.”
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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