Build Western ytterbium-176 enrichment so lutetium-177 has more than one supplier
The lutetium used in approved prostate and neuroendocrine cancer treatments is made from an enriched metal that comes mostly from Russia. Making it elsewhere would secure supply.
No-carrier-added lutetium-177 is produced by irradiating enriched ytterbium-176, most of which has historically come from Russian electromagnetic separators. Demand is rising steeply with Pluvicto, Lutathera and pipeline radioligands. Several companies (ASP Isotopes, ITM, SHINE and others) are developing laser or centrifuge enrichment in North America and Europe. The proposal is an advance market commitment by health systems and manufacturers to buy a guaranteed volume of Western-enriched ytterbium-176 at a floor price for ten years, with a strategic buffer stock, mirroring how vaccine advance commitments created capacity.
- Manufacturing cost and time for living and radioactive medicines · Cell therapies take weeks to make for one patient and cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Isotopes run short.
- Most of the world has almost no cancer care · Seven in ten cancer deaths happen in low- and middle-income countries, where radiotherapy, pathology, surgery and drugs are scarce.
Pages like this
not linked directly; found by shared links- IdeaRegional radiopharmacy hubs and harmonised transport rules for short-lived isotopes
Shares Lutetium-177 dotatate, Lutetium-177 vipivotide tetraxetan, Radioligand therapy (beta emitters), Manufacturing cost and time for living and radioactive medicines.
- IdeaA coordinated reserve and shared schedule for the world's medical isotope reactors
Shares Radioligand therapy (beta emitters), Manufacturing cost and time for living and radioactive medicines, Most of the world has almost no cancer care.
- IdeaTwo-day CAR-T manufacture paired with rapid release tests that regulators accept
Shares Novartis, Manufacturing cost and time for living and radioactive medicines.
- InstitutionPostgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh
Shares Lutetium-177 dotatate, Lutetium-177 vipivotide tetraxetan, Radioligand therapy (beta emitters).
- InstitutionChulabhorn Hospital / Chulabhorn Royal Academy
Shares Lutetium-177 dotatate, Lutetium-177 vipivotide tetraxetan, Radioligand therapy (beta emitters).
- PairingBeta radioligand → alpha radioligand
Shares Lutetium-177 dotatate, Lutetium-177 vipivotide tetraxetan, Radioligand therapy (beta emitters).
- InstitutionPurdue Institute for Cancer Research
Shares Lutetium-177 vipivotide tetraxetan, Novartis, Radioligand therapy (beta emitters).
- Key paperNETTER-2: lutetium-177 dotatate as first treatment for higher-grade gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumours
Shares Lutetium-177 dotatate, Novartis, Radioligand therapy (beta emitters), Most of the world has almost no cancer care.