Niowave announces Mo-99 production run

Michael Walter | | Radiology Business | Medical Imaging

Officials from Lansing, Mich.-based Niowave say the company has produced molybdenum-99 (Mo-99) with a superconducting electron linear accelerator. The news was first reported by the Lansing State Journal.

“Production of molybdenum 99 is a several-hundred-million-dollar-a-year industry, and it's all outside of the U.S.,” Jerry Hollister, Niowave COO, told the newspaper. “It’s an industry in which we can be the center across the world for isotopes.”

According to the Journal, Niowave is planning on applying to amend its licence with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to increase production of Mo-99.

This development continues a busy October for medical isotope production news. Two Wisconsin-based companies, NorthStar Medical Radioisotopes and SHINE Medical Technologies, received funding from the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) earlier this month to develop Mo-99.

SHINE also announced this week that the NRC has recommended approval of a new manufacturing plant.

Michael Walter
Michael Walter, Managing Editor

Michael has more than 18 years of experience as a professional writer and editor. He has written at length about cardiology, radiology, artificial intelligence and other key healthcare topics.

Related Content

U.S. moves closer to establishing domestic supply of Mo-99 for nuclear imaging
RSNA 2024 Program Chair Kate Hanneman highlights key trends in radiology
Key takeaways from RSNA 2024 for AI, CT, MRI and the radiology staffing shortage
Radiologists are more accurate, confident when they know the full story
GE HealthCare moves PET/CT scanner production to United States
Use of AI opportunistic screening in CT for cardiovascular disease

Around the web

Health Imaging
Nearly $800,000 settlement offered to family of man who died during MRI exam

The patient, who was being cared for in the ICU, was not accompanied or monitored by nursing staff during his exam, despite being sedated.

Cardiovascular Business
Global shortage of nuclear imaging isotopes may be over

The nuclear imaging isotope shortage of molybdenum-99 may be over now that the sidelined reactor is restarting. ASNC's president says PET and new SPECT technologies helped cardiac imaging labs better weather the storm.

Cardiovascular Business
‘A huge win’: CMS significantly increases Medicare payments for cardiac CT

CMS has more than doubled the CCTA payment rate from $175 to $357.13. The move, expected to have a significant impact on the utilization of cardiac CT, received immediate praise from imaging specialists.