Lantheus makes deal with Shine for Mo-99 supply

Lantheus Medical announced Monday that the international radiopharmaceutical company has entered an agreement with Wisconsin-based Shine Medical Technologies for supply of molybdenum-99 (Mo-99).

The new supply would be from a production line that does not use highly enriched uranium (HEU), which is associated with weapons proliferation. This is the first contract that Lantheus has struck for a U.S.-based supply of Mo-99.

"We have been the industry leader in adopting the use of [low-enriched uranium]-produced Mo-99 in our TechneLite generators, and adding Shine as a prospective U.S. supplier further demonstrates our commitment to new domestic Mo-99 technology and the U.S. government's global nuclear security strategy to encourage reliable future supplies of medical radioisotopes produced from non-HEU sources," said Lantheus president and chief executive officer Jeff Bailey, in a press release.

The agreement details how Shine will supply a secure and sustainable amount of Mo-99 to be used in Lantheus’ generators to produce technetium-99m from the parent isotope.

Lantheus notes that the supply is expected to begin in 2018 pending all of the requisite permits and approvals for Shine’s low-enriched uranium (LEU) production technology.

"This agreement, along with another agreement earlier this year, show that SHINE is important to the future of medical isotope generation," Shine founder and chief executive officer Greg Piefer added.

Lantheus currently procures Mo-99 from four big medical isotope processors and seven associated reactors. The company plans an eventual shift to a solely LEU supply chain at some point in the future.