NorthStar and GE HealthCare Enter Moly-99 Supply Agreement

NorthStar Medial Radioisotopes signed a non-exclusive letter of intent late last week with GE Healthcare to supply the company with molybdenum-99, the medical isotope used in millions of medical procedures each year. NorthStar is one of several companies trying to get through the regulatory hurdles to begin the production of the moly-99 following the announcement that Canada plans to stop government spending in 2016 on the National Research Universal (NRU) reactor, one of the world’s largest suppliers of moly-99 and technetium-99m. GE Healthcare has also signed a similar agreement with Shine Medical Technologies, another company vying to fill the moly-99 market.

 

The agreement hinges on NorthStar receiving regulatory approval from the Food and Drug Administration. “Together, NorthStar and GE Healthcare will help ensure that health care professionals have reliable access to the technetium-99m isotope they need to give their patients accurate diagnoses and conduct important research,” NorthStar President and CEO George Messina said in a statement. “And because the 99Mo parent radioisotope will be produced without the use of highly enriched uranium, we will be helping the United States achieve vital national security and safety goals.”