Urenco Isotopes celebrates successful research and development partnership with King’s College London

Urenco Isotopes has celebrated the successful completion of a two-year collaboration with King’s College London, marking a significant achievement in the field of medical radionuclides.

The partnership came under the Medical Radionuclide Innovation Programme (MRIP), a £6 million research and development initiative funded by the UK Government’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ). This was designed to support 10 projects across academia and industry that could strengthen the UK’s access to medical radionuclides in the future. 

Urenco’s project was to assess the viability of producing the medical isotopes copper-64 and copper-67 using zinc coins, an innovative technology developed by Urenco’s R&D team at its Isotopes facility in Almelo, Netherlands. It involved collaboration with clinicians and scientists from King’s College London and the University of Birmingham where the zinc coins were irradiated to produce copper-64 and copper-67.

The research sought to establish a secure supply chain for the production of isotopes used in medicine, specifically in cancer diagnosis and treatment, while offering an alternative to the predominantly nickel-based isotopes largely supplied by Russia.

Head of Urenco Isotopes, Linda Ashton,  said: 

“This was a great project to be involved in and demonstrates how we can be an innovative partner to key healthcare stakeholders, government, and academia. 

“The collaboration helps us deliver on our ambition to become a global leader in isotope advancements. Thanks to the expertise and tenacity of our team, we were able to add value to this exciting and innovative approach to theranostics.”

To mark the successful completion of the project, an event was held at the London Institute for Healthcare Engineering and included keynote speakers from several Urenco leaders, as well as Professor Steven Archibald and Dr.Jennifer Young who led on behalf of King’s College.

A report has now been submitted to DESNZ, highlighting the progress made and the potential impact on the field of nuclear medicine. Urenco Isotopes remains committed to advancing this work, which shows promise for positively influencing the treatment of cancers by slowing, and in some cases halting, the progression of disease. 

Linda added: 

“Urenco supplies isotopes that support the equivalent of more than two million patient treatments every year. The demand for these products is increasing and so is the variety of applications in the fields of treatment and diagnostics.

“Urenco is excited to continue its work in nuclear medicine and looks forward to further advancements in theranostics that will contribute to treatment options for patients worldwide.”

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