Netherlands-based Nuclear Research and Consultancy Group NRG announced that the Kansen voor West organisation has awarded a subsidy of €6.8 million ($7.7 million) to develop FIELD-LAB, an initiative of the Advancing Nuclear Medicine consortium.
The FIELD-LAB proposal is an initiative of NRG and its partners and is being launched under the name of Advancing Nuclear Medicine. NRG formed the Advancing Nuclear Medicine consortium with seven partners as a platform to develop FIELD-LAB, which is a combination of nuclear infrastructure, partly existing, partly new, combined with NRG’s nuclear knowledge and expertise and the medical knowledge, expertise and product ideas of its partners.
The group believes that speeding up the development of the new generation of nuclear therapies is both an opportunity and a social responsibility. Participating organisations include the Netherlands Cancer Institute - Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, Stichting Voorbereiding Pallas, Radboudumc, Erasmus MC, Amsterdam UMC, NucMed and FutureChemistry. The proposal is also supported internationally by 15 organisations, including the German Cancer Research Centre (DKFZ) and BTG, a Canadian pharmaceutical company. The FIELD-LAB consortium is expected to take on new partners in the short term.
NRG said FIELD-LAB’s proximity to the High Flux reactor at the Energy & Health Campus in Petten is highly efficient, for both logistic and organisational reasons. A third of the production of all commonly used medical isotopes worldwide are produced in Petten. All relevant elements for the production of isotopes and radioactive material are in place. The commitment of companies enables both acceleration of development and focus on realising actual improvements for patients.
Philippe Brouwers, NRG Business Director said: “Several years ago, NRG turned its attention to stimulating the development of nuclear medications. Among other things, we started collaborating with various partners such as university hospitals to draw up the plans for FIELD-LAB. 30,000 patients per day now benefit from the products we’re creating in Petten. With this subsidy, we can start realising FIELD-LAB and in that way help even more patients in the future.”
Photo: Energy & Health Campus in Petten (Credit: NRG)
