Two years after emerging with its initial funding round, CDMO Nucleus RadioPharma is going bicoastal, revealing expansions at two sites that the company believes will "significantly improve” market access to the promising cancer treatments.
The upgrades at sites in Mesa, Arizona, and Springhouse, Pennsylvania, will give each facility research, development and commercial production capabilities “under one roof,” Nucleus said in an Oct. 21 release. In all, the project will boost Nucleus’ production capacity by 200%, according to a spokesperson.
While the site in Arizona will cover 53,000 square feet, the Pennsylvania facility, north of Philadelphia, will occupy 48,000 square feet. With the expansions, which are expected to be complete by the end of 2026, Nucleus expects to create roughly 50 new jobs at each location.
Most importantly, the upgrades will allow many more patients to receive radiopharmaceuticals, which have a limited shelf-life, according to Nucleus.
“To reach their full potential as treatments for millions of patients with limited options, theranostic radiopharmaceuticals must be available close to those who need them,” Nucleus RadioPharma CEO Charles Conroy said in a release. “Our expansion will significantly improve patient access to these life-saving treatments and expedite clinical trials, potentially reducing time-to-market for new therapies by up to 30%.”
In addition to Nucleus’ facility at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, these sites will bring radiopharmaceutical manufacturing capabilities to within a four-hour drive of 60% of the U.S. population, the company said.
The Arizona site will facilitate shipping to Asia, while the Pennsylvania facility will do the same for patients in Europe.
The added scale of manufacturing capacity provided by Nucleus and the increased proximity to clinical trial sites will ultimately improve “outcomes for patients battling cancer” overall, according to Robert Uzzo, CEO of the Fox Chase Cancer Center, which is a key partner of Nucleus along with the Mayo Clinic.
Nucleus was established in 2022 to help boost radiopharmaceutical access; its financial backers include AstraZeneca and GE HealthCare.