Full speed ahead!
I’ve heard it’s springtime out there and something about an exciting college basketball tournament. I wouldn’t know. Right now, all I care about is measuring Actinium-225, the extremely rare alpha-emitting radionuclide in ultra-high demand for research and development of next-generation precision cancer treatments.
For those unfamiliar, Actinium-225 is the miracle drug we’ve been wishing for—a radioisotope that emits alpha particles that deliver short-range but high-energy radiation, offering an ideal combination that kills cancer cells without harming nearby healthy cells.
That's huge.
Life-changing.
Death-defeating.
For cancer victims, it's like the difference between the world before penicillin and now.
Once Serva received its shipment of Radium-226 last month from the Department of Energy, we immediately began experimenting in the lab—and with good results.
I am happy to report that we are close to getting a measurement of Actinium-225 that would serve as a significant milestone for Serva and the proof of concept we need to begin production of what many are calling “the rarest (and most valuable) drug on Earth.”
How are we doing this?
By using the same technology we developed for our work on nuclear fuels.
I see Actinium as an exciting development not away from our original energy mission but alongside it, and toward the company’s most near-term profit.
Once we get our measurement, the next 10 months or so will be highly focused on ramping up production of Actinium-225 in order to dramatically increase its availability for patient care and biomedical research.
To save lives.
How valuable is that? Extremely valuable—not just financially, but in serving the world.
It’s nearly impossible for me to sit still these days. I’m either working in my reactor lab at the University of California-Irvine or trotting across the globe to connect with colleagues, companies, experts, and other nuclear innovators, like I did last month in Cape Town, South Africa, for the 12th International Symposium on Targeted Alpha Therapy. While there, I presented on our novel reactor-based production method for, what else, Actinium-225, the promising isotope few can supply and even fewer can create.
Hold on and buckle up! We’re close—I can feel it.
Onward,
Ian