TerraPower to Produce Actinium-225 on Industrial Scale
US-based company TerraPower Isotopes announced it starts to produce actinium-225 at industrial scale using the natural decay method for the production of actinium-225 without isotopic impurities, which increases the efficiency and automation of the process and contributes to stable supply of the radioisotope to the market.
Actinium-225 is used as a starting material for research and development of advanced, targeted cancer treatments and in drug trials involving targeted alpha therapy. Through further manufacturing, the isotope can be attached to a molecule, which can then selectively target and deliver actinium-225 to the cancer site to potentially treat diseases such as prostate, breast, colon, neuroendocrine cancer, melanoma and lymphoma. Actinium-225-labelled drug products, once developed and approved, can destroy cancerous tissue with minimum damage to nearby healthy cells.
The TerraPower Isotopes cooperates with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management and Isotek Systems, LLC to increase the supply of actinium-225 by harvesting the isotope from thorium-229 decay, which is derived from legacy US nuclear material of uranium-233 with the help of innovative state and private partnership.