University of Missouri President Mun Choi addresses the crowd.
Sept. 4, 2025
Contact: Janese Heavin, heavinj@missouri.edu
Photo by Abbie Lankitus
The University of Missouri hosted a groundbreaking ceremony today for two new additions to the University of Missouri Research Reactor (MURR) facility enabling the expansion of critical radioisotope production.
Totaling more than 29,000 square feet, the two additions will streamline operations and greatly increase the number of cancer-fighting drug doses available for patient care. The first — an 11,200-square-foot addition — will house three production lines for making FDA-approved no-carrier-added lutetium-177, an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) used in cancer-fighting drugs. The second — a 17,900-square-foot addition — provides space for API production lines.
“The continued growth at MURR is essential to being able to meet the national demand for radioisotopes used in lifesaving, theranostics and cancer-fighting drugs,” University of Missouri President Mun Choi said. “The continued investment to build new infrastructure here will allow us to help many more patients across the country and around the world.”
MURR is the only source in the United States for four medical radioisotopes used to treat more than a dozen types of cancers, including liver, pancreatic, prostate and thyroid cancers.
“The Board of Curators is proud of the success of MURR and Mizzou and the impact we have on patients every day,” Todd Graves, chair of the UM Board of Curators, said. “As the nation’s only source of these critical radioisotopes, we are advancing science and research for our state like never before, and the expansions being built are emblematic of that.”
Missouri’s central location ensures the medical isotopes produced at MURR can be deployed quickly around the country, which is critical because of their short half-lives.
“As the only reactor in the world that runs 52 weeks per year, we are a reliable source of these much-needed radioisotopes for patients, medical providers and the pharmaceutical industry,” Matt Sanford, executive director of MURR, said. “The demand continues to grow, and these new additions will provide more capability to meet the needs of the nation. Together, these new additions will keep MURR and Mizzou at the forefront of isotope production.”
The Board of Curators approved the additions during the April 2024 board meeting.
