ANSTO to manufacture new radiopharmaceutical at Lucas Heights

The Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) and medical device company OncoBeta GmbH are to partner to manufacture a new radioisotope at Lucas Heights in New South Wales for the treatment of non-melanoma skin cancers (NMSCs).

They have signed a Letter of Intent to establish manufacturing and distribution in Australia for OncoBeta’s novel Rhenium-SCT therapeutic utilising ANSTO’s Open Pool Australian Lightwater (OPAL) reactor.

OPAL is one of a small number of such reactors known as ‘neutron factories’, producing radioisotopes for cancer detection and treatment, and neutron beams for fundamental materials research.

OncoBeta is currently in the process of securing Australian Market Approval for its novel radiopharmaceutical.

The global incidence of non-melanoma skin cancers has been increasing over the past decades, with around 500,000 Australians each year being diagnosed with one or more of these cancers.

ANSTO General Manager Business Development and Commercialisation, Rosanne Robinson said OncoBeta would join ANSTO’s nandin innovation incubator community, which has attracted eleven entrepreneurs, early stage start-ups and innovative companies to be co-located with ANSTO.

In just over a year of operation nandin companies are developing six new products, with two due for release in 2020.

COO of OncoBeta GmbH Nicholas H. Vetter said: “We are incredibly excited to start extending our production footprint to Australia.

“With this partnership we can finally move beyond trying to service the market from our other production sites in Europe or South Africa.

“It’s a perfect time to expand our business.”

Rhenium-SCT is a non-invasive, painless therapy in which the radioisotope Rhenium-188 never comes in direct contact with the patients’ skin.

Picture: ANSTO/OPAL reactor

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