NUKED: Why radiopharmaceuticals are exploding, with Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and HB Biotechnology

The radiopharmaceuticals sector is on a knife point. The scope of what nuclear medicine can do is exploding. But the radioisotopes that biotechs need to make those therapies are in very, very short supply. Major clinical trials are hitting pause because of shortages of critical nuclear isotopes, and the world's biggest pharmaceutical companies are buying up biotechs that have locked in both the science and the supply chain. 

There will be some very successful winners, and many, many losers as companies fight for the nuclear resources they so desperately need to make their therapies work.

In this series Nuked, we will walk you through this fascinating marriage between chemistry and physics, why is exciting both investors and clinicians, how biotechs are fighting to lock in supplies of nuclear material, and whether Australia has a shot at becoming a nuclear power.

In our first episode, we speak to Peter MacCallum Cancer Center chief radiopharmaceutical scientist Dr Mohammad Haskali and HB Biotechnology managing director Charlie Williams.

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Produced by Rachel Williamson and Charis Palmer. Music and effect credits to Ziso, Inspector J, Seth Parson and Boom Library.