Eckert & Ziegler Signs Long-Term Supply Agreement with Sirtex Medical on Yttrium-90 for Treating Liver Cancer

"This agreement cements our long-term relationship and makes it easier for both parties to plan accordingly. The order once again underlines our strong market position and competence as a leading production partner for the pharmaceutical industry", explains Dr. Lutz Helmke, member of the Executive Board of Eckert & Ziegler AG and responsible for the Medical segment. “With our geographic expansion strategy, we offer our customers a reliable and worldwide supply of high-quality radioisotopes.”

"With its global manufacturing network, Eckert & Ziegler is an ideal partner for us to supply yttrium-90 worldwide. Our therapy is used in more than 50 countries to treat liver cancer, and with our recently announced prospective, multi-center study for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma, we have the potential to expand our FDA-approved indication for the use of SIR-Spheres^® in the U.S.," explains Kevin R. Smith, CEO of Sirtex Medical.

From its production facilities in Braunschweig, Germany, and Boston (MA), USA, Eckert & Ziegler supplies the Sirtex sites in Frankfurt, Boston and Singapore with yttrium-90.

Radioembolisation or selective internal radiotherapy (SIRT) uses tiny radioactive beads inserted directly into the liver tumours. The clinical data of this form of therapy, which has been used since 2002, is becoming increasingly convincing. In February 2021, the renowned British National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) issued a positive recommendation for the treatment of advanced liver carcinomas with SIR-Spheres^® Y-90 resin microspheres. Every year, around 840,000 people worldwide develop liver cancer (source: Globocan, 2018).

To meet the increasing demand for radiopharmaceutical substances, Eckert & Ziegler is currently expanding its production sites. A new GMP facility will be added to the Boston (MA), USA site at the end of 2021. In Berlin, a new GMP facility with a total area of around 270 m² will be ready for operation in the first quarter of 2022. In Jintan (China), Eckert & Ziegler is investing up to EUR 50 million in the construction of a production facility for radiopharmaceuticals.

This expansion strategy positions Eckert & Ziegler as a global partner to the radiopharmaceutical industry, offering complete early development services, including process development and scale-up, CMC development, manufacturing and packaging, product release and stability programmes. This will enable the company to be a radiopharmaceutical contract manufacturer of phase I, II and III clinical scale products and for commercial use.