The UK Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) has signed a 15-year agreement with Cambridge biotech firm Bicycle Therapeutics aimed at extracting medical isotope lead-212 from the UK’s stockpile of reprocessed uranium (RepU). NDA will give Bicycle Therapeutics access to 400 tonnes of reprocessed uranium from which it will extract lead-212 using a radioisotope generator developed by Spectron Rx.
NDA CEO David Peattie said: “We’re proud to make part of our uranium inventory available to Bicycle, enabling the development of innovative, life-saving treatments. As the organisation entrusted with the safe and secure management, storage, and disposal of the UK’s radioactive materials and waste – a responsibility we take extremely seriously – this collaboration demonstrates how we can go beyond our core mission.”
According to the UK National Nuclear Laboratory (UKNNL) the chemical separation process will isolate exceptionally small quantities of lead-212’s parent material from used nuclear fuel. From this tiny amount, an even smaller fraction of lead-212 is then separated for medical applications. These trace quantities can then be developed into radiopharmaceuticals designed to target some of the most challenging forms of cancer.
Science and Technology Secretary Liz Kendall said: “Turning nuclear material into cutting-edge cancer treatments sounds like science fiction – but thanks to the brilliance of scientists, researchers and doctors, it could be a life-saving reality.” The reprocessed uranium will continually regenerate the isotopes required “providing an enduring source of tens of thousands of doses of lead-212, for lifesaving precision therapies, each year”, said the UK’s Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.
A month earlier, funding of £20m ($26.8m) was announced for research by UKNNL and Medicines Discovery Catapult into lead-212 extraction. UKNNL explained in a case study that “as the reprocessed uranium undergoes natural radioactive decay, many different chemical elements are produced which can be separated and utilised”.
It continued: “To extract the useful radionuclides, a multi-step process dissolves the uranium before extracting thorium-228 in a set-up known as a thorium cow. The thorium decays naturally over several years, allowing the useful radionuclides – radium-224 which decays to lead-212 – to be extracted periodically. Having demonstrated the success of the thorium cow, UKNNL is now focusing on achieving the purity required for the next stage.”
Bicycle Therapeutics is pioneering a new and differentiated class of therapeutics based on its proprietary bicyclic peptide technology, Bicycle intends to utilise the RepU provided by this agreement in its development of potential lifesaving therapies.
Bicycle also announced a collaboration with UKNNL, with plans to extract thorium-228 from the RepU obtained from NDA. This will then be further processed into radium-224 and loaded into the lead-212 generator being developed by SpectronRx. Collectively, this set of arrangements is designed to support the potential discovery, development, and commercial supply of a portfolio of Bicycle Radioconjugates containing lead-212.
