NorthStar Medical Radioisotopes and BWXT Medical have entered a multiyear agreement to produce actinium-225 (Ac-225) that focuses on the processing and purification of radium-226 to produce the cancer treating isotope and meet the growing demand in therapeutic applications.

Under the Master Services Agreement, the companies will collaborate on radium-226 processing, potential target design projects, and explore backup supply opportunities for their customers.

BWXT Medical, a subsidiary of BWX Technologies based in Ottawa, Ontario, recently submitted a Drug Master File for Ac-225 API to the FDA, enabling clinical investigators and pharmaceutical companies to reference the filing in their regulatory submissions. This filing supports further clinical studies and potential new drug applications.

“This collaboration is a significant step forward in our mission to support healthcare providers and patients by providing high-quality medical isotopes," said Jonathan Cirtain, president and CEO of BWXT Medical. "Together, we are accelerating our radium-226 target design and fabrication efforts and establishing another irradiation relationship that will enable us to expand our production of Ac-225.”

Wisconsin-based NorthStar Medical Radioisotopes will leverage its expertise in radiopharmaceutical production and commercialization. Dr. Frank Scholz, NorthStar’s president and CEO, said the agreement "could be instrumental to the radiopharmaceutical industry and patient health.”

Earlier this year, NorthStar agreed to be Curadh MTR’s supplier for ongoing Ac-225 clinical studies, supplying it with noncarrier-added patient doses of actinium-225 for research on potential diagnostic and therapeutic regimens for targeting solid tumors.

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