Radiopharmaceuticals present unique challenges for the healthcare supply chain due to their short shelf lives. As soon as these isotopes are produced, they begin to lose their potency, which drives companies to develop rapid and reliable delivery systems.
Justin Butler, a partner at Eclipse Ventures, told BioSpace that radiopharmaceuticals “are like melting ice cubes.” This characteristic has led manufacturers to invest in specialized facilities and logistics networks designed for speed.
NorthStar Medical Radioisotopes addresses this challenge by starting with the patient’s treatment time and working backward to ensure timely delivery. CEO Frank Scholz explained that this approach aims to prevent situations where patients arrive for care only to find their medication has not yet been delivered. He referenced an incident described by Nucleus RadioPharma CEO Steve Hahn, in which a patient traveled from Alaska to Mayo Clinic but could not receive treatment because the drug had not arrived.
The way companies design their supply chains depends on each isotope’s half-life. For example, NorthStar ships actinium-225—which has a 9.92-day half-life—from its Wisconsin facility to destinations in Asia, Australia, and Europe. In contrast, isotopes like yttrium-90 used for liver cancer have much shorter half-lives (64 hours), often requiring more decentralized distribution models.
Location is also critical. NorthStar’s manufacturing site is near five airports to facilitate quick air transport—essential for both global shipments and reaching remote U.S. patients. However, Scholz noted that shipping radioactive materials by plane can be delayed by factors such as weather or aircraft availability; sometimes pilots refuse to carry these materials altogether. While private planes reduce some risks compared with commercial flights, they come at a higher cost.
For locations within six hours of its facilities, NorthStar uses trucks instead of planes because ground shipping is typically less expensive and more predictable in terms of arrival times. Similarly, Hahn said Nucleus prefers overland routes for sites within six to eight hours’ distance due to greater reliability than air transport.
To monitor shipments closely, manufacturers use tracking technology similar to consumer package tracking systems—something relatively new in pharmaceuticals. Hahn pointed out that it remains uncommon for providers themselves to directly track these deliveries.
Some companies build extra time into shipping schedules as a buffer against potential delays; however, if everything goes smoothly and medicine arrives early at the healthcare facility, it may decay before administration—reducing effectiveness. Reliable overland shipping can minimize the need for such buffers.
Nucleus plans further expansion so more sites can be reached within eight hours by road transport. The company operates from Rochester, Minnesota (where Mayo Clinic is based), and is developing a facility outside Philadelphia intended both for East Coast service and European shipments; a West Coast location is planned within three-to-five years.
Hahn stated: “We will be strategic in where we place any facilities or partnerships we form so we reach as many people as possible.” He added that serving Asia would likely require establishing a local presence or forming partnerships: “I think it is very likely that an Asian presence for a company like Nucleus is going to be necessary,” he said. “That could be in partnership with other companies, so that you can ship all over Asia. The transportation networks are very well developed there and that, probably, from a time point of view, is the best way to do it.”
