A Perma-Fix Medical-led consortium announced yesterday that it had received a grant totaling $2.7 million from the National Centre for Research and Development in Poland to further develop and commercialize a prototype generator for the production of technetium-99m. With Canada set to stop government spending in 2016 on the National Research Universal (NRU) reactor, one of the world’s largest suppliers of molybdenum-99 and technetium-99m, the medical isotope industry is expecting a shortage in the market in the coming years, opening a potentially lucrative opportunity to satisfy the market for the medical isotope used in millions of procedures annually.
Under the grant, Perma-Fix Medical will receive $800,000 directly while the remaining amount will be allocated to four other organizations under Perma-Fix leadership to support technology development and testing. The four other groups include: the National Centre for Nuclear Research – Radioisotope Centre POLATOM in Otwock; the Institute for Biopolymers and Chemical Fibers – Department of Biopolymers in ?ód?; Warsaw Medical University – Department of Nuclear Administration; and the Institute of Industrial Organic Chemistry Branch in Pszczyna.
According to Perma-Fix CEO Lou Centofanti, the grant will help the company accelerate the development and rollout of the company’s technology. “This funding marks a significant achievement and validation for Perma-Fix Medical, as the project was ranked third on the list of 97 projects that submitted applications, and was among only 12 projects that were recommended for funding,” Centofanti said in a statement. “We believe the grant subsidies will accelerate the rollout of our technology in Europe and in the USA.”