UW-Madison's $62M Cyclotron Lab Aims to Lift Isotope Output Up to 8x

The University of Wisconsin-Madison has started building a $62 million cyclotron facility to make more medical isotopes, including alpha emitters. The School of Medicine and Public Health held the ground-breaking ceremony on October 23.

What happened

The project adds two cyclotrons to the school's existing research infrastructure. It will sit in a 13,000 square foot space within the Wisconsin Institutes for Medical Research complex, according to the American Nuclear Society's Nuclear Newswire.

• Capacity: the university says radioisotope output will rise two- to eightfold, depending on the isotope.
• Alpha emitters: one machine is an alpha-particle cyclotron. The university calls it the first modern system of its kind installed in the United States. AuntMinnie reports the new machines will produce astatine-211.
• Timing: completion is expected by May 2028.
• Funding: the National Institutes of Health, the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation and private donors are paying for it.

Wisconsin Public Radio reported that the university had secured $48.5 million before the UW Board of Regents approved another $13.5 million in 2025. The existing, older cyclotron will stay in place.

Why it matters

Nuclear Newswire reports the new machines will make high-value medical isotopes that the older technology could not. Jonathan Engle, who directs the UW-Madison Cyclotron Research Group, said the country faces a shortage of medical isotopes.

UW-Madison has made radioisotopes for about a decade as a member of the US Department of Energy's University Isotope Network. Once the new site opens, it plans to expand supply to clinical trials and research centres, AuntMinnie reported.

Engle told Wisconsin Public Radio that targeted radionuclide therapy is still in the clinical trial phase. He said the expansion will let the university make radionuclides and treat patients in one building, something he said very few places in the world can do.

What it means for people in the industry

Training is a stated goal. Provost John Zumbrunnen said scientists, clinicians, engineers, radiochemists, pharmacists and health professionals will train there. Their training will run from isotope production and radiochemistry to molecular imaging and theranostics.

Engle said the isotopes will support PET and SPECT imaging. Nuclear Newswire reports the facility will also support theranostic clinical trials and training in radiopharmaceutical science. The sources do not give a number of new jobs.

What to watch: whether the added output reaches outside trial sites as the 2028 opening nears.

See open pharma jobs in the US and Canada

Sources

• UW-Madison breaks ground on new radioisotope cyclotron facility, American Nuclear Society, Nuclear Newswire
• UW-Madison breaks ground on $62M cyclotron facility, AuntMinnie
• UW-Madison's $62M cyclotron lab expansion will explore promising cancer treatments, Wisconsin Public Radio