A promising cancer therapy facilitated by Belgian research centre SCK CEN, relies on a Russian nuclear weapons company, L’Echo and De Tijd report.
The Russian factory, ElektroKhimPribor (EKP), is located in Lesnoj, and employs around 10,000 individuals. It also has operations for civilian usage.
Despite the Russian invasion of Ukraine, orders continued to pour in from countries like the Netherlands, Germany, and Sweden.
The Dutch company, TerThera, reportedly spent over €30 million on medical and laboratory isotopes between May 2022 and March 2023.
To develop a new and promising targeted cancer therapy featuring the Terbium-161 isotope, TerThera partnered with the Mol-based nuclear research centre, SCK CEN, in June this year.
The company says the required raw material, Gadolinium-160, is only available from the Russian EKP factory.
Currently TerThera is using material purchased before the invasion of Ukraine. However, if the reserves run out – which isn’t anticipated to occur within a few years according to the company – they’ll need to get resupplies from the Russian factory.
“It is crucial that we eliminate this dependency, but it will take at least three years to have a ready building with a functional facility,” says Peter Baeten, the director-general of Mol’s centre.
