Drug manufacturers can now refer to this DMF when developing new radiopharmaceuticals for the U.S. market and use the lutetium (¹⁷⁷Lu) chloride solution in clinical trials of drugs, for example. A large number of tumor-specific drugs can be labeled with the beta emitter lutetium-177, which brings the radiating effect of the isotope directly to the tumor cell.

"We are excited about the access to the U.S. market for lutetium-177 based radiotherapeutics," explains Dr. Lutz Helmke, member of the Executive Board and responsible for the Medical segment at Eckert & Ziegler. "Thanks to our joint venture with Atom Mines LLC, we have excellent access to the scarce and indispensable precursor ytterbium-176 and thus the possibility to supply no-carrier-added lutetium-177 in highest purity and reliably to pharmaceutical customers worldwide."

Radionuclide therapy with lutetium-177, is becoming well established as a valuable treatment option within precision oncology for various indications. Eckert & Ziegler is one of the leading partners for the radiopharmaceutical industry, offering complete early development services in addition to the supply of isotopes, including process development and scale-up, CMC development, manufacturing and packaging, product release and stability programs.