Produce more
Radioisotopes in
a Cost-Effective way

The new radiopharmacy will now be start its production of F-18 compounds using the Cyclone® KIUBE and the Synthera® + platform. 

The FAT confirms the machine is compliant with its specifications. The Cyclone® 70 will now be disassembled to be packed and then shipped to Korea. About the project The Institute of Basic Science (IBS) is constructing equipment and facilities for the Rare isotope Accelerator complex for ON-line experiments (RAON). RAON is a large basic science research facility built around a heavy-ion accelerator. When completed, it will be a key pillar of the International Science and Business Belt (ISBB). This will be an optimal facility to produce and study new rare isotopes, so the global scientific community is closely following its progress.  The Cyclone®70 will be one of the drivers of the RAON facility. Scientists have discovered approximately 3,000 isotopes to date, but they believe an additional 7,000 isotopes have yet to be discovered, presenting unlimited potential for rare isotope science. When the operation of RAON begins, new research opportunities will open up in various areas, such as research into the origin of elements, discovery of new rare isotopes and the study of their structure, and applied research in material and biomedical sciences. Congratulation to all the people involved in this important step of the project.

The launch of the Cyclone® IKON, Cyclotron riggings, new members of the team, Synthera® installations, webinars,... read it all in our summer Newsletter ! 

  IBA leverages 35 years of experience and innovation in the new Cyclone® IKON with enhanced availability of theranostic radiopharmaceuticals and reduced radiopharmacy footprint   Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium,  10 June 2021 -  IBA (Ion Beam Applications S.A., EURONEXT), the world's leading provider of solutions for the diagnosis and treatment of cancer, today launches its new high energy and high-capacity cyclotron, the Cyclone® IKON, which offers the largest energy spectrum for PET and SPECT isotopes from 13 MeV to 30 MeV. The Cyclone® IKON was showcased during a virtual live event and the replay can be watched here. Currently, there are still a large number of patients for whom cancer treatment fails, despite major scientific advances. Nuclear medicine is emerging as a relevant modality to address this gap by extending overall survival and quality of life for cancer patients. Theranostics and targeted therapies allow the administration of radiation directly to the targeted cells, with minimal toxic side effects to surrounding healthy cells, unlike traditional modalities. The growing number of clinical trials (200+) and ongoing increase of new radiotherapeutic molecule developments support the great potential of radioligand therapy.   “To enable this revolution, we must enhance the availability of novel isotopes and boost their production capacity. In its role, the cyclotron must be a reliable and sustainable production source of isotopes for the radiopharmaceutical industry and this is particularly the case for Germanium-68 (used for Germanium-68/Gallium-68 generators), Iodine-123 and other radioisotopes such as Copper-64, for which the demand has been consistently expanding year after year.” Bruno Scutnaire, Vice-President of IBA's RadioPharma Solutions Division commented. To address these new market needs, IBA has redesigned its previous model, Cyclone® 30 MeV, and created a next generation system, the Cyclone® IKON. It is more compact and versatile than ever and is capable of working over a large energy span (13 to 30MeV) with full current capacity to enable the large-scale and high-purity production of emerging PET, SPECT and “parent” isotopes.  The first two units of the Cyclone® IKON have already been acquired by two leading companies in radiopharmaceuticals production: The Institute of Radioelements (IRE) in Belgium and Curium Pharma in St Louis, USA. Commissioning is scheduled for 2023. Renaud Dehareng, CEO of Curium Pharma said: “IBA has been a trusted partner of Curium for a long time. We selected IBA for its globally recognized expertise and due to the outstanding capabilities and reliability of the Cyclotron.” We selected IBA because of the reliability of its equipment. It has the most compact and efficient high energy cyclotron on the market." said Erich Kollegger, CEO of IRE.