EU Awards $2.8 million Technetium Grant to Perma-Fix

The European Union has awarded a $2.8 million grant to Perma-Fix Environmental Services for the development of a novel prototype generator for the production of technetium-99m, a medical isotope material used in cancer and cardiac imaging procedures, according to a press release from the company.

Research for the project is expected to wrap up in February 2018, followed by an implementation deadline in May 2018. According to the announcement, Perma-Fix Medical S.A., a subsidiary of Perma-Fix Environmental Services, will receive $800,000, while the remaining amount will be allocated to other members of the project team, including four Polish entities: the National Centre for Nuclear Research’s Radioisotope Centre POLATOM; the Institute for Biopolymers and Chemical Fibers’ Department of Biopolymers in ?ód?; Warsaw Medical University’s Department of Nuclear Administration; and the Institute of Industrial Organic Chemistry Branch.

Perma-Fix signed the agreement with Poland’s National Centre for Research and Development, and the grant was awarded through the country’s STRATEGMED program.

"Having independently validated our patented microporous resin technology at two of the pre-eminent nuclear research institutes in the world, we are pleased to now have the additional financial resources and scientific support to enable us to further develop and test our own commercial generator, which will be used to contain the resin at a higher scale as its separates Tc-99m from natural molybdenum,” Perma-Fix Medical S.A  CEO Steve Belcher said in a statement. “Following our latest successful scale-up of our prototype generator at the 6 curie level, we are conducting additional tests at higher curie levels. We believe our process is a breakthrough in the industry because it does not require the use of uranium and is less expensive than the industry standard now in use.”