Energy Fuels Inc, an industry leader in uranium and rare earth elements production for the energy transition, has officially confirmed the acquisition of RadTran LLC, a private company specializing in the separation of critical radioisotopes. According to certain reports, the deal in question will aid Energy Fuels’ plans for development and production of medical isotopes used in cancer treatments. You see, given RadTran’s knowhow when it comes to separating radium-226 (“Ra-226”) and radium-228 (“Ra-228”) from uranium and thorium process streams, it will enable Energy Fuels to address the global shortage of these essential isotopes used in emerging targeted alpha therapies. More on the given development will reveal how, under the agreed terms, the purchase price payable by Energy Fuels to RadTran consists of (all dollar amounts in US$): (i) on closing, $1.5 million in cash, and $1.5 million in Energy Fuels common shares. Furthermore, it will include. a grant of a 2% royalty on future revenues from the sale of produced radium, and certain other contractual commitments; as well as an extra $14 million in cash and Common Shares based on the satisfaction of a number of performance-based milestones, including achieving initial production, securing suitable offtake agreements to justify commercial production, and reaching commercial production.
Markedly enough, the deal also builds upon the work Energy Fuels and RadTran have already been doing since July 2021. To give you some context, the companies previously formed a strategic alliance to evaluate feasibility of recovering Ra-226 and Ra-228 from existing uranium process streams at Energy Fuels’ White Mesa Mill in Utah. As a result of this alliance, recovered Ra-226 and Ra-228 would be made available to the pharmaceutical industry and others to enable the production of actinium-225 (“Ac-225”), lead-212 (“Pb-212”) and potentially other leading medically attractive TAT isotopes.
“With this Acquisition, we will be combining our unique processing capabilities at the White Mesa Mill, the only permitted and operating uranium mill in the United States, with over 40 years of chemical and metal separations experience, with RadTran’s intellectual property and medical isotope experience in radionuclide separation and concentration, which we believe will position Energy Fuels to be a leader in this developing industry. Additionally, what I find exciting about this initiative is that Energy Fuels has the potential to recover valuable isotopes from its existing process streams, thereby recycling back into the market material,” said Mark Chalmers, President and CEO of Energy Fuels.
Another thing on which the stated acquisition builds upon is Energy Fuels receiving regulatory approval and licensing in 2023 for the concentration attached to R&D quantities of Ra-226. Hence, backed by that, the company is now looking to complete engineering on its research and development (“R&D”) pilot facility for Ra-226 production. In fact, during the 2024 itself, it plans on setting up the first stages of the pilot facility, while simultaneously producing R&D quantities of Ra-226 for testing by end-users. Upon successful production of R&D quantities containing Ra-226, Energy Fuels will go ahead and develop capabilities at the Mill for the commercial-scale production of Ra-226 and potentially Ra-228 in 2026-2028, conditional on completion of engineering design, securing sufficient offtake agreements for final radium production, and receipt of all required regulatory approvals.
Making the whole development even more important is, of course, the fact that well over 30 clinical trials are currently evaluating Ac-225, a product of Ra-226 and a crucial component of targeted alpha therapies, thus highlighting the urgent need for reliable isotope supply. Many of these trials have also reached final pre-approval stage (phase 3) targeting neuroendocrine tumors and leukemia, with many more earlier stage trials already initiated to address common cancers including prostate cancer. However, like we referred to, a shortfall in Ac-225 production is currently delaying trials and causing severe uncertainties in regards to when these drugs will become available. Energy Fuels hopes to solve that very problem moving forward.
