The Federal Government has announced a $30 million project to design a new world-leading manufacturing facility that will produce vital nuclear medicines.
The new facility will replace the existing facility at Lucas Heights in Sydney where the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) produces about 80% of nuclear medicine isotopes used to fight diseases like cancer.
Acting Minister for Industry, Science and Technology Angus Taylor said that in addition to improving health care in Australia, the new facility would also support nearly 1000 highly-skilled jobs across the country.
“Nuclear medicine is an essential part of an advanced healthcare system and helps save lives – that’s why we’re acting to secure a reliable nuclear medicine supply for future generations,” Minister Taylor said.
“By funding the productive infrastructure that supports the delivery of nuclear medicine services, we are also investing in future industry development and in onshore, highly-skilled jobs such as nuclear medicine researchers, developers and practitioners.
“It will also support radiopharmaceutical research and development and contribute to research translation and medical industry collaboration, to improve health care in Australia.”
Finance Minister Simon Birmingham said the would-leading project would provide immense opportunities for a collaborative approach and private sector involvement.
“Through this $30 million commitment, we’ve laid the foundations for this facility, with private sector collaboration important to now realise its full benefits,” Minister Birmingham said.
“There is huge potential for partnerships in this new state-of-the-art facility which will save Australian lives, support thousands of jobs and further enhance our sovereign capability in this important area of medicine.”
According to ANSTO’s statement, the new facility will meet domestic demand for technetium, lutetium, and iodine-based products, and have the flexibility to respond to market and technological changes.
“The modern design will enable greater process automation than is possible with existing technology, leading to improvements in efficiency, quality, and, importantly, the highest levels of production safety,” reads the statement.
“The design, construction and commissioning of the new facility – to eventually be operated by ANSTO – is forecast to take an estimated 8.5 years.”
