Coquí RadioPharmaceuticals Plans Construction of Mo-99 Facility

Coquí RadioPharmaceuticals, a Puerto Rican medical isotope company based in Coral Gables, Florida, announced that it completed a transaction with University of Florida Foundation for a 25-acre piece of land on which to build a facility to produce Molybdenum-99 (Mo-99). The construction of this facility will bring the first commercial producer of this product to the US.

The most widely used medical isotope is Technicium-99m (Tc-99m), a derivative of Mo-99, appearing in approximately 500,000 medical diagnostic procedures in patients in the US, according to Business Wire. A short lifespan for the isotope means that it needs to be used quickly after creation; however, the closest producer of medical isotopes to the US is in Canada, making use difficult. In 2016, the Canadian production facility is to close, leaving the proposed Coquí facility to be the only Tc-99m operation in the western hemisphere.

Coquí recently signed an agreement with INVAP, an Argentina-based firm, to design and construct the facility.

“Our goal is to help ensure reliable domestic production of these life-saving medical isotopes to the US. And the University of Florida Foundation is helping make that a reality,” said Carmen I. Bigles, President and CEO of Coquí Pharma, in a press release from Business Wire.

Source: BusinessWire