China breaks through the difficulty of large-scale production of medical Alpha isotopes; anti-cancer nuclear medicine prices will drop significantly.

China News Service, Dongguan, March 28 (Reporter Xu Qingqing) The Scientific Center of the Spallation Neutron Source of the Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and China National Nuclear Corporation Atom High-Tech Co., Ltd. formally signed a cooperation agreement for medical isotopes in Dongguan on March 28. The two sides will focus on three key medical alpha isotopes—Actinium-225, Radium-223, and Lead-212/Bismuth-212—accelerating China’s indigenous alpha radiopharmaceuticals in moving from the laboratory to clinical applications, bringing new hope to cancer patients.

According to information available, alpha isotopes can precisely kill cancer cells while causing minimal damage to surrounding healthy tissues, and have significant clinical value for targeted treatment of middle- and late-stage tumors. For a long time, core therapeutic alpha isotopes such as Actinium-225 and Radium-223 have relied entirely on imports, and the supply of such sources has been scarce. Their large-scale production has been a globally recognized industry challenge, due to multiple technical barriers involved, including “target-assembly development” and “high-efficiency separation.”

Wang Sheng, Director of the Scientific Center of the Spallation Neutron Source and the person in charge of the alpha isotope industrialization project at the Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, said that by using an additional beam for irradiation overlaying the thorium target with a high-energy, high-current linear accelerator, together with a jointly developed separation and purification process, in July 2025 the center will, for the first time internationally, achieve the simultaneous extraction of high-purity Actinium-225, Radium-223, and Lead-212/Bismuth-212 medical alpha isotopes at the single-batch millicurie level. The radiological nuclear purity will reach over 99%, with product quality consistent with imported products. After further process optimization, it has recently gained the capability for large-batch supply at the curie-level for Lead-212/Bismuth-212 per year.

It is understood that to meet the needs of scaled clinical applications, the Scientific Center of the Spallation Neutron Source of the Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, is advancing the construction of a dedicated alpha isotope production line with a 300 MeV (300 million electron volts) and a beam power of 100 kW (kilowatts). After completion, it will achieve an annual production capacity at the hundred-curie level, meeting raw material supply needs for nearly one million doses of nuclear medicine.

Under the cooperation agreement, the Scientific Center of the Spallation Neutron Source of the Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, will focus on alpha isotope R&D, process optimization for production, and the implementation of mass production, continuously improving isotope purity and production capacity. China National Nuclear Corporation Atom High-Tech will be responsible for supply-chain construction and market promotion, promoting the transformation of isotope products into clinical drugs. The two sides will work together to tackle drug labeling technologies, accelerating the R&D of targeted drugs such as for prostate cancer and neuroendocrine tumors.

Wang Sheng said that this cooperation will not only realize an autonomously controllable supply of alpha isotopes, but will also drive a full value-chain upgrade—from isotope preparation, to drug R&D, to clinical application—promoting a significant reduction in nuclear medicine prices and bringing the “anti-cancer nuclear bomb” to ordinary patients. (End)