Carmen Bigles is featured in a U.S. Department of Energy documentary about the successful clean up and reindustrialization of the former K-25 site, future home of the Coquí Medical Isotope Production Facility. The U.S. Department of Energy transferred land for the facility and provided research support through the national laboratories. Coquí’s facility will produce medical isotopes that diagnose and treat diseases, primarily Molybdenum-99 (Mo-99), which is used in 18 million medical procedures a year in the U.S.
Y-12 video: Supporting medical isotope production
Global supplies of Mo-99 are becoming increasingly unreliable as facilities capable of producing the isotope age and shut down. Mo-99 shortages, deprive patients from receiving lifesaving diagnostics and treatment. The U.S. currently has no domestic production source. Learn how Coquí is leveraging world class research assets like Y-12, which is helping move production of this important isotope forward.
Oak Ridge Today: Y-12 supporting work to make most widely used medical isotope
The Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge is supporting a program to make an isotope used in more than 40,000 medical procedures across the nation each day. The goal is to produce the isotope, molybdenum-99 (Mo-99), in the United States without using highly enriched uranium.
Teknovation.biz Profile of Coqui’s Carmen Bigles
PYA Chief Alliance Officer Tom Ballard profiled Carmen Bigles for Teknovation.biz, outlining Coqui’s mission and plans to build the nation’s first facility to produce medical radioisotopes in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
Read Part 1: Carmen Bigles focused on producing a reliable domestic supply of Mo-99 in Oak Ridge
Read Part 2: Carmen Bigles clearly not afraid to take on a big, big challenge
WATE-TV: Isotope production facility coming to Oak Ridge
New jobs and new technology are coming to East Tennessee. The Coqui RadioPharmaceuticals Corporation announced plans to open in Oak Ridge in the next few years. Coqui hopes to open a medical isotope production facility to produce isotopes that diagnose and treat diseases.
Knox News: Medical isotope producer to be built on decontaminated land near old uranium production plant
Coquí plans to build a $500 million medical isotope production facility on the land, which includes a once-contaminated area of the East Tennessee Technology Park called “Duct Island.”
Oak Ridge Today: Company could invest $500 million at medical isotope production facility
Coquí Pharma’s Medical Isotope Production Facility
Coquí Radio Pharmaceuticals Corporation announced Wednesday that it could invest $500 million at a new medical isotope production facility at the Heritage Center in west Oak Ridge. The facility could start production in late 2025, said Carmen Bigles, founder and chief executive officer of Coquí Radio Pharmaceuticals. The U.S. Department of Energy has transferred land for the facility and provided research support through the national laboratories, the company said in a press release Wednesday morning.
Coquí Pharma on Track to Build Medical Isotope Production Facility in Tennessee
Contact:
Cortney Piper, 865-789-2669
cortney@piper-communications.com
Oak Ridge, Tenn. – Coquí Radio Pharmaceuticals Corp. is closer to realizing its goal of building a dedicated Medical Isotope Production Facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, after the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) transferred land for the facility and provided research support through the national laboratories. Coquí’s facility will produce medical isotopes that diagnose and treat diseases, primarily Molybdenum-99 (Mo-99), which is used in 18 million medical procedures a year in the U.S. The DOE land transfer to Coquí of 206 acres in the Heritage Center Industrial Park places the company in a strategic location adjacent to federal research assets, Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Y-12 National Security Complex.
Once fully operational, the facility will be the first of its kind in the U.S., which currently relies on imports to meet its Mo-99 needs. The most widely used medical isotope in the world, Mo-99 is relied on to diagnose and treat diseases including brain, heart, lung, liver, renal, oncologic, and muscle skeletal diseases.
“Coquí is best positioned to meet the demand for lifesaving medical isotopes because our technology is commercially proven and is used in the current supply chain,” said Carmen I. Bigles, founder and CEO of Coquí Radio Pharmaceuticals Corp. Design of Coquí’s facility is being led by INVAP, the world’s leading designer and developer of medical isotope production facilities. Coquí has an exclusive license with INVAP to use its technology in the United States.
Global supplies of Mo-99 are becoming increasingly unreliable as facilities capable of producing the isotope age and shut down. Mo-99 shortages, such as the one that occurred in November 2018, deprive patients from receiving lifesaving diagnostics and treatment. The U.S. currently has no domestic production source. The Coquí facility is expected to be fully operational in 2025 and will provide more than 200 high paying, permanent jobs.
“This land acquisition provides many advantages. Oak Ridge is home to several DOE and TVA nuclear facilities, providing a strong nuclear and engineering workforce. By growing our company in Oak Ridge we can leverage world-class research assets like Oak Ridge National Lab and the Y-12 National Security Complex,” added Bigles.
DOE has provided further support for the Coquí facility through research funding. These funds support Coquí’s partnership with Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the nearby Y-12 National Security Complex to conduct further research on Mo-99 target plate fabrication and qualification.
Coquí’s decision to locate its production facility in Oak Ridge makes its collaboration with Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Y-12 National Security Complex easier and more efficient.
“This research partnership is critical and supports our efforts to obtain Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Food and Drug Administration approvals for the facility. The sooner we can begin producing U.S.-made Mo-99, the sooner we can minimize our dependency on foreign imports to meet critical U.S. medical needs,” said Bigles.
About Coquí Radio Pharmaceuticals Corp.
Coquí Pharma was founded in September 2009 with a mission to create a commercially scalable and reliable supply of Molybdenum-99, which is used in more than 18 million medical procedures to treat and diagnose disease each year in the U.S. For more information visit http://coquipharma.com/
Coquí Radiopharmaceuticals Completes Schematic Design of $330 million Medical Isotope Production Facility
Completed schematics marks another step towards becoming first U.S. commercial producer of Molybdenum-99.
Coquí Radiopharmaceuticals Inks Deal with INVAP
Coquí Pharma has formally signed a contract with INVAP to design its Medical Isotope Production Facility in Alachua, Fla.