Eckert & Ziegler installs cyclotron in Warsaw

As part of its further expansion, Eckert & Ziegler Strahlen- und Medizintechnik AG has begun construction of a new production facility for cyclotron-based PET radiopharmaceuticals in Poland’s capital, Warsaw. The company plans to invest approximately 7 million EUR to start up a cyclotron for commercial production of FDG and also to construct GMP laboratories for research and development of new radiodiagnostic agents at the over 6000 m2 site. The required approvals for construction of the new production facility have already been obtained. Once it is completed, Eckert & Ziegler will be able to supply FDG Fludeoxyglucose (18F) and other tracers for cancer imaging diagnostics from this plant to nuclear medical facilities in Warsaw and the central and eastern regions of Poland.

The Warsaw location was chosen because of the availability of highly qualified, skilled personnel and the large number of nuclear medical facilities in the region. Also, both the beltway and the proximity to Warsaw’s city center enable fast delivery of short half-life radiopharmaceuticals to the cancer diagnostic centers.

FDG is used in Positron Emission Tomography (PET) for the safe and early detection of the smallest cancer tumor foci. Because of its short half-life, FDG is cyclotron produced on a daily basis and promptly delivered to the clinics. Eckert & Ziegler operates several radiopharmaceutical production sites in Germany and currently supplies FDG daily to nuclear medical facilities in Poland.

Eckert & Ziegler (ISIN DE0005659700) has approximately 590 employees, and is one of the world’s largest suppliers of isotope based technical components used in the early diagnosis of cancer and subsequent radiation therapy.