Following the signing of a long-term contract, shares of ASP Isotopes Inc. (NASD: ASPI) were up 22.08% to trade at $2.82 in pre-market at the last check.
Which contract has ASPI signed?
With BRICEM, ASP Isotopes (ASPI) has engaged in a 25-year supply deal for highly enriched molybdenum-100 (Mo-100) (Beijing Research Institute of Chemical Engineering Metallurgy). In order to create radiopharmaceuticals for use in nuclear medicine procedures to detect cancer and diagnose heart disease as well as to investigate organ structure and function, mo-100 is employed. The 25-year deal has a maximum value of $27 million per year, and deliveries are expected to start in July 2023.
As opposed to its earlier prediction of “before 2024,” ASP Isotopes now anticipates starting to provide commercial quantities of Mo-100 in Q3 2023. ASPI and BRICEM are still in communication over the creation of further isotopes. It is envisaged that highly enriched Mo-100 will be employed in cyclotrons or linear accelerators to produce either technetium-99m (Tc-99m) or Mo-99. 120 medical cyclotrons are available at 117 medical facilities throughout China, and several of them can already use Mo-100 to create radiopharmaceuticals.
In China, there were 2.51 million SPECT (single photon emission computed tomography) tests in 2019, up 19.9% from the previous year. The Chinese Mo-99 market was valued at $94 million in 2019; by 2030, it is anticipated to reach $212 million. The Mo-99 supply chain has always been unstable, and it still is. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) added Tc-99m Sodium Pertechnetate generators to the Drug Shortages List on November 17, 2022.
The molybdenum enrichment plant being built by the company in Pretoria, South Africa, is intended to have the ability to generate more than 20 Kg of molybdenum enriched to >95% in the Mo-100 isotope each year. The projected demand for the first five years of intended production is presently greater than four times the headline capacity of the facility, and ASPI is in commercial conversations with several potential clients in numerous locations.
What other plans does ASPI have?
To satisfy the demands of these potential clients, ASP Isotopes (ASPI) intends to increase capacity. ASPI is also aware that a number of Mo-99 users outside the US are temporarily lacking supplies as a result of supply problems.
