The medical world is concerned about Russian raw materials for cancer treatment

• Gidi Pols

  Economics Editor

Dutch doctors and pharmaceutical companies are concerned about Europe’s dependence on Russia’s nuclear sector. Some treatments with radioactive medicines require processing raw materials that are almost exclusively produced in Russia. This applies, among other things, to the treatment of prostate cancer.

Radioactive substances are used more and more in hospitals, both for research and for the treatment of different types of cancer.

“For example, we can use the substance Lutetium-177 to make medicine to treat metastatic prostate cancer,” said Wim Oyen, professor of nuclear medicine at the Rijnstate hospital in Arnhem and vice-chairman of the Dutch Society for Nuclear Medicine.

Several hundred patients a year now receive the treatment in the last stage of their disease. “It extends their life by about four months,” says Oyen. “And perhaps even more important: it makes the quality of life in those months much better. “

The drug is expected to be used in many more hospitals in the coming years, and it may help at an earlier stage of the disease as well. “And then you use it on thousands of patients. “

The Netherlands is an important worldwide producer of medical isotopes, as the radioactive substances are known. There are several pharmaceutical companies around the reactor in Petten that make medicines from Lutetium-177. They produce not only for the Netherlands, but also for other countries, where use is already much wider.

However, anyone who wants to make Lutetium-177 cannot ignore Russia. The nuclear material is obtained by enriching the rare earth metal Ytterbium, which is almost exclusively produced in Russia.

Russian nuclear company Rosatom claimed two years ago even that more than 95 percent of the wealth needed to make the material occurs in Russia. Last weekend NOS reported that Rosatom is using a Dutch subsidiary to transfer hundreds of millions of euros in profits.

The same story applies to Terbium-161, also a radioactive substance that can be used to treat cancer. This material is now only used on a small scale, but Terbium is expected to work even better than Lutetium.

“There have been factories in Russia since Stalin times where they are now making the starting material for these radioactive isotopes,” says Harrie Buurlage, European director of the American isotope manufacturer Shine. “All supplies from the West come from there. “

This dependence leads to discomfort in the medical world. Manufacturers can still turn to Moscow. Like uranium, which is used for nuclear energy, these radioactive substances for medical use are not covered by the sanctions against Russia.

Some parties prefer not to do business with Russian state companies for moral reasons. Others fear that sanctions will still come or that Russia will stop shipping as part of the geopolitical game. And so the sector agrees that Europe needs to be less dependent.

In a study on this topic, all 75 European market parties surveyed indicated that they would like to see dependence on suppliers from outside the EU reduced. Their answers show that Russia is particularly seen as a threat.

“At this time, we still have supplies in the West,” said Shine’s Buurlage. “But it is expected that there will be further progress in research on Lutetium and Terbium in the coming years. And then you may want to treat millions of people around the world with these isotopes. You want to avoid being completely dependent on countries outside of Europe, such as Russia.”

So Shine is working on factories in Veendam with subsidies and loans worth around 30 million euros from the Dutch government. “We can then enrich our own starting material for these medical isotopes,” Buurlage said.

Weeds are still growing there now, but the American company wants to start construction next year. “We are already producing Lutetium-177 at our factory in the United States. Lutetium production should start in Veendam in late 2027 or early 2028,” says Buurlage. “As far as we’re concerned, this puts an end to our dependence on Russia.”