UrBC, Yekaterinburg, April 27, 2016. Institute of Reactor Materials in Zarechny, Sverdlovsk Region (a member enterprise of Rosatom Corporation) is planning to start producing Lu 177 (lutetium) in 2018 to support cancer treatment, the institute’s director Dmitri Markov said in the course of his recent press tour.

According to Markov, the institute currently focuses on supplying its customers with radionuclide materials necessary for making radiopharmaceuticals. However, the organization is planning to switch to the more sophisticated produce in the near future and sell it on both home and international markets.

‘We are planning to introduce a production line for the Lutetium 177-based radiopharmaceutical precursor lutetium trichloride in 2018. The compound will work in combination with proteins capable of locating cancer cells within a human body. This means the isotopes will get delivered directly to the damaged cells and destroyed locally with no damage to other tissues. This technology allows even for terminal cancer treatment,’ Markov said.