Canada approves new source of medical isotopes

Canada’s Health Ministry on Monday approved a new source of Technetium-99m (Tc-99m) medical isotopes.

Boston-based Lantheus Medical Imaging has been authorized to use Molybdenum 99 (Moly-99) produced by the Open Pool Australian Light-water (OPAL) reactor to make Tc-99m for diagnostic imaging in Canadian healthcare facilities, the ministry said.

The ministry said Lantheus expects to begin receiving Moly-99 from the OPAL reactor over the next few weeks.

The isotopes, which are valuable in medical imaging for diagnosing cancer, heart disease and other medical conditions, are in increasingly short supply.

The Chalk River reactor in Ontario, which makes a third of the world’s medical isotopes, was taken out of service in May after it was discovered to be leaking a small amount of heavy water.

“Health Canada has been working hard to secure alternative supplies of medical isotope Moly 99 since the Chalk River shutdown,” Canada’s Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq said in a statement. Last week, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said the country would eventually stop making medical isotopes.

BANGALORE (Reuters)