NorthStar Medical Radioisotopes Awarded $22.2 Million in Federal Funds
MADISON, WI. – November 15, 2012 – NorthStar Medical Radioisotopes, LLC (NorthStar), today announced that it has been awarded $22.2 million in federal funding in a Phase 2 cooperative agreement through the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) Global Threat Reduction Initiative. The cooperative agreement marks successful completion of an Environmental Assessment of NorthStar’s proposed Beloit, Wis. facility. Funds will be used for the set up and construction of the facility to support NorthStar’s non-uranium-based production of molybdenum-99, a medical isotope used daily in the United States for over 50,000 medical procedures—and currently supplied entirely via importation from foreign nuclear reactors.
NorthStar seeks to become the first domestic molybdenum-99 supplier, helping to address supply shortages, as well as security and logistical complexities associated with the importation of this critical radioisotope. NorthStar has developed a production methodology that uses linear accelerators and non-uranium based raw materials, and therefore does not result in any high-level radioactive waste. On the basis of its Environmental Assessment, required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), NNSA issued a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI), which allowed for Phase 2support.
“We are very pleased to reach this major milestone in partnership with the NNSA,” said George Messina, NorthStar’s CEO. “NorthStar has been working diligently since 2007 to perfect our approach to the safe, sustainable production of molybdenum-99 and its daughter technetium-99m. With this funding and additional funding from our valued private investors, we take a significant stride toward our goal of producing as much as half of the required U.S. supply of molybdenum-99 by the end of 2014.”
In 2010, NNSA awarded NorthStar a limited-scope cooperative agreement for $500,000, followed by the award of a $2.3 million cooperative agreement in 2011 bringing the total federal funding to $25 million. Each cooperative agreement, including today’s announcement, is funded under a cost sharing arrangement between NorthStar and NNSA.
In late September, NorthStar announced that it had begun the approval process with the Food & Drug Administration for its novel approach, through the filing of its first required submission. In addition, NorthStar announced an agreement with Hendricks Commercial Properties, LLC, to develop its state-of-the-art medical isotope production facility in the Gateway Business Park of Beloit, Wis.
About NorthStar Medical Radioisotopes, LLC
NorthStar Medical Radioisotopes, LLC was founded in 2006 to address the needs of the nuclear medicine market in the United States. The company is committed to resolving supply challenges that have plagued the industry and have challenged production supply, thereby stalling clinical research. NorthStar’s patented technologies include innovative non-uranium based molybdenum-99 production methods, a novel separation chemistry system, and tools for the nuclear medicine market. Learn more at www.northstarnm.com.