Wisconsin's NorthStar Medical Technologies Secures $5.2 Million in Additional Funding for Safe, Domestic Radioisotope Production
MADISON, WI – September 5, 2012 – NorthStar Medical Technologies, LLC (NorthStar), a manufacturer and distributor of domestically-produced radioisotopes for the nuclear medicine field, today announced the closing of a Series D preferred stock financing round totaling $5.2 million. Stateline Angel Investors of Rockford, Illinois, was the lead investor, joined by existing NorthStar investor Hendricks Holding Company, Inc., and a group of accredited local investors. Proceeds from the financing will be used to launch commercial production of Molybdenum-99 via two proprietary methodologies NorthStar has developed. Molybdenum-99 is a medical isotope used in over 50,000 medical procedures each day in the U.S. The entire supply is currently imported from foreign nuclear reactors.
By launching commercial production of Molybdenum-99, NorthStar seeks to become the first U.S.-based supplier to help address current supply shortages, as well as security and logistical complexities associated with the importation of this critical radioisotope.
NorthStar has partnered with the Missouri University Research Reactor (MURR) in the production of Molybdenum-99. The company expects to begin commercial production at MURR in early 2013, and to quickly achieve production of significant quantities of Molybdenum-99 for distribution and delivery to the U.S. nuclear medicine marketplace.
“We are very excited to be in a position to begin domestic production of Molybdenum-99, a goal we have been actively working toward since 2007,” said George Messina, NorthStar’s President. “We are grateful for the support of our investors—Hendricks Holding Company and Stateline Angels—in helping us reach this important milestone on the path to becoming the leader in U.S. Molybdenum-99 production, and to enable the future of nuclear medicine.”
In addition to Molybdenum-99 production at the MURR facility, NorthStar is also pursuing another non-uranium-based production process that will utilize linear accelerator technology. The manufacturing facility for this process will be built in Beloit, Wisconsin. NorthStar is actively working on the design of the facility and expects to break ground in 2013. Both production methods being pursued by NorthStar use non-uranium based raw materials that do not result in any high-level radioactive waste created by other methods, which use both Highly Enriched Uranium and Low Enriched Uranium as raw material.
According to Diane Hendricks, CEO of Beloit-based Hendricks Holding Company, Inc., “We are pleased to once again provide investment capital to NorthStar as it pursues safe, scalable solutions for the production of Molybdenum-99. We are delighted to support NorthStar as it endeavors to become the first domestic supplier of Molybdenum-99 using an approach that does not rely on uranium-based materials in its production process. NorthStar is helping to keep Wisconsin at the forefront of innovation in the nuclear medicine field.”
Added, Randy McIntyre of Stateline Angel Investors, “We believe that NorthStar has the most promising approach to helping the U.S. nuclear medicine industry eliminate the challenges associated with this very important medical isotope, particularly because of its safe production methods. We’re delighted to be on board at this pivotal point for NorthStar.”
About NorthStar Medical Technologies, LLC
NorthStar Medical Technologies, LLC is the parent company of NorthStar Medical Radioisotopes, LLC, which 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 problems that have plagued the industry and have challenged production supply, thereby stalling clinical research. NorthStar’s patented technologies include an 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.