Radiopharmaceutical manufacturer secures $30M to bolster domestic isotope production
Another U.S. company is investing in the domestic production of radioisotopes to help address supply chain issues that have been ongoing for years.
Michigan-based Ionetix Corporation—a cyclotron and technology company that provides end-to-end radiopharmaceutical manufacturing solutions—announced it has raised more than $30 million that will go toward funding the advancement of radioisotope production. Ionetix operates patent-protected superconducting cyclotron technology that can be harnessed to support particle accelerator solutions. Its use is beneficial for the production of both positron emission tomography diagnostics and alpha emitter therapeutics at scale.
Although the company is already bringing in revenue from medical radioisotopes, the new funding will help further these initiatives and drive additional research and development, CEO Kevin Cameron contends.
“Ionetix is well-positioned at a promising moment for the medical isotope space, as more PET imaging agents are approved and alpha emitter therapeutic clinical trials are launched,” Cameron said in a statement. “With this financing and a path toward becoming a publicly traded company, we will continue scaling up production of medical radioisotopes as well as increase our R&D efforts for our particle accelerator platform technology in the nuclear energy, materials testing and other related spaces.”
The $30 million funding round was raised via private placement offering at $3 per share. Additionally, Ionetix completed a go-public reverse merger transaction with JDEV Acquisition Corp. As a result, Ionetix is now subject to the public reporting requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
This latest move from Ionetix reflects a broader trend of companies investing in ways to secure a domestic supply of radioisotopes here in the U.S. Currently, the country relies heavily on foreign reactors to supply a significant portion of its isotope supply. These aging reactors are often sidelined due to mishaps or routine maintenance, limiting their reliability. Ionetix joins others, such as SpectronRX, Shine, experts operating the University of Missouri Research Reactor and more in the push to establish domestic isotope productions.
Learn more here.
In addition to her background in journalism, Hannah also has patient-facing experience in clinical settings, having spent more than 12 years working as a registered rad tech. She began covering the medical imaging industry for Innovate Healthcare in 2021.