This from the Kokomo Tribune: PERU, IN — An Indiana-based company set to invest $26 million to install two particle accelerators near Grissom Air Reserve Base has been approved to purchase 10 acres for the project.
The Miami County Economic Development Authority (MCEDA) last month approved a land purchase agreement for Nuke Medical Inc. for land located off 800 South in the south industrial park at Grissom Aeroplex.
John Zehner, CEO of SpectronRx, which will operate Nuke Medical, said the company had originally planned to purchase 7 acres at the site, but the project has grown in size and now requires 10 acres.
He said the company is working with one large entity and several smaller entities, which all want their own facilities for the project, which is why they need more land.
MCEDA had previously agreed to provide the 7 acres at no cost to the company but is charging $105,000 for the additional 3 acres, according the board’s January meeting minutes.
Zehner said in a previous interview that Nuke Medical plans to construct up to 50,000 square feet in new buildings at the site to house the cyclotrons and other equipment, which will create medical isotopes to treat different kinds of cancer.
He said there is a very limited supply of the isotopes, which are currently only produced by the U.S. Department of Energy in three labs located around the country.
The company will research and develop techniques to independently produce the isotopes, which use alpha radiation to treat cancer.
Zehner told the MCEDA board the project will break ground soon and should be operational by September. The company plans on hiring around 25 new employees who will be paid on average $50 an hour.
The new facilities will be built near AZIstopes Corp., which opened in 2020 producing diagnostic and therapeutic isotopes using a 280,000-pound cyclotron machine. The $70 million facility employs around 50 people.
SpectronRx played a pivotal role in developing that project. Now, the company will develop its own facility to produce different kinds of isotopes using two smaller cyclotrons.
Zehner said his company and AZIstopes will work closely together sharing ideas and personnel, but the two facilities are independent businesses.
Even so, the new particle accelerators coming to the Aeroplex mark the next step in turning the area into a kind of medical campus. AZIsotopes said last year it plans to add even more buildings and production at the site in the coming years.
Zehner said said the new project will move forward as quickly as possible to create the isotopes, which are being used in clinical trials for new cancer treatments.
“There’s a need for this isotope, so we would like to start producing it as soon as possible,” he said.
The Peru City Council in December passed a tax abatement on the project, providing a 70% reimbursement on real property for 10 years on taxes paid by the company.
Zehner said the company has also applied for state economic development assistance to complete the project.