Telix and Ekalia to build astatine-211 supply chain in the US
Telix Pharmaceuticals and Ekalia, the joint venture formed by Ion Beam Applications (IBA) and Framatome, have announced a collaboration to establish scalable domestic production of astatine-211 (²¹¹At) in the United States, beginning with an installation at Telix's RLS Radiopharmacies facility in Trevose, near Philadelphia.
The agreement brings together three complementary capabilities: IBA's specialised alpha-beam cyclotron technology, Framatome's nuclear and isotope production expertise, and Telix's vertically integrated US radiopharmacy and distribution platform. The framework also provides for the parties to evaluate additional cyclotron installations across the broader RLS network as demand for ²¹¹At grows.
Strategic rationale
Astatine-211 is an alpha-emitting radioisotope with a short half-life of roughly 7.2 hours, a characteristic that constrains its supply chain to production sites in close geographic proximity to clinical centres. Despite its therapeutic promise in targeted alpha therapy (TAT), production capacity has remained limited globally, and access to reliable supply has been cited in the peer-reviewed literature as a principal barrier to broader clinical development.
For Telix, securing priority access to ²¹¹At directly supports its early-stage candidate TLX102-Tx, an ²¹¹At-labelled astato-L-phenylalanine being evaluated for glioblastoma and leptomeningeal disease. The company also indicated the collaboration would provide production capacity for third-party academic and industry programmes, positioning RLS Trevose as a shared infrastructure resource for the wider US ²¹¹At ecosystem.
Chad Watkins, General Manager of Isotope Strategy at Telix, said: "Owning the path from isotope to patient is central to our development and commercialisation strategy. This collaboration gives Telix a dedicated, long-term source of astatine-211 to advance our alpha therapy pipeline, and demonstrates the strategic value of the RLS platform as a host for next-generation isotope production in the US."
Market context
The collaboration is a notable step in the broader industrialisation of targeted alpha therapy, a field that has attracted growing commercial and academic interest as lutetium-177-based beta-emitting radiopharmaceuticals, exemplified by Novartis's Lutathera and Pluvicto, have validated the theranostics model at scale. Alpha emitters are regarded as more cytotoxic over shorter ranges than beta emitters, making them theoretically suited to micrometastatic or infiltrating disease settings such as leptomeningeal spread.
Telix's existing commercial radiopharmacy infrastructure is a meaningful differentiator here. Few radiopharmaceutical developers have the in-house last-mile distribution capacity to translate isotope production directly into clinical logistics, and the RLS network, which spans multiple US sites, provides a ready-made framework for regional supply without cold-chain complexity.
IBA and Framatome had already announced their European ²¹¹At collaboration, with Ekalia described as a company in formation. The US agreement represents the first named North American node in what is intended to become an international production network. No financial terms were disclosed, and no timeline was given for when the Trevose installation is expected to be operational or when TLX102-Tx might enter a named clinical trial phase. Investors will watch for an IND filing and preclinical data packages as the next substantive milestones.