James Harvey, Ph.D. of NorthStar Medical Radioisotopes to Present at American Pharmacists Association Annual Meeting & Exposition

MADISON, Wis. – James Harvey, Ph.D., senior vice president and chief science officer of NorthStar Medical Radioisotopes LLC, will be a featured speaker at the American Pharmacists Association Annual Meeting & Exposition (APhA2015) in San Diego later this month, highlighting new technologies and techniques that will create a commercially viable domestic supply of the medical radioisotope molybdenum-99 (Mo-99).

Harvey will present “Future Domestic Mo-99 Supply Developments” at 10 a.m. March 30 in Room 29 C/D of the San Diego Convention Center, 111 W. Harbor Drive.

Mo-99 is the parent isotope of technetium-99m (Tc-99m), the most widely used radioisotope in medical diagnostic imaging. Currently, nearly all Mo-99 is generated using weapons-useable highly enriched uranium (HEU) at aging facilities located outside of the United States, leading to chronic product shortages and creating safety and national security concerns. NorthStar is developing two technologies for producing Mo-99 without the use of HEU – a neutron capture process using the University of Missouri Research Reactor (MURR) in Columbia, Missouri, and an electron accelerator process.

Harvey will provide an overview of current Mo-99 production worldwide, explain the related market challenges, review current efforts to establish a reliable domestic supply, and explain the impact that the new technologies will have on the availability of Mo-99 in the United States.

Harvey will also highlight recent advances in bringing NorthStar’s technologies to market – including construction of a new facility in Beloit, Wisconsin to support the company’s work at MURR; enhancements to its RadioGenix™ isotope separation system, which is used to extract Tc-99m from Mo-99; and U.S. Department of Transportation certification of its Type A source vessel, used in shipping Mo-99 to radiopharmacies.

The presentation will be open to anyone registered for APhA2015. Attendees can receive 0.2 continuing pharmacy education (CPE) credits.

NorthStar Medical Radioisotopes LLC
Based in Madison, Wis., NorthStar Medical Radioisotopes LLC (northstarnm.com) was founded in 2006 to address the needs of the nuclear medicine market in the United States. A wholly owned subsidiary of NorthStar Medical Technologies LLC, the company is committed to resolving industry-wide supply challenges that have caused shortages of vital medical isotopes, negatively impacting patient care and stalling clinical research. Its patented technologies include innovative non-uranium based molybdenum-99 production methods, a novel separation chemistry system and tools for the nuclear medicine market.