The state enterprise “Medical Procurement of Ukraine” (MPU) purchased two sets of equipment for the production of radiopharmaceuticals for diagnosing cancer at early stages, for the creation of nuclear medicine centers, from the company LLC “Protek Solutions Ukraine” for UAH 445 million.
According to the MPU press release, five suppliers took part in the auction, and the winner, LLC “Protek Solutions Ukraine,” offered a price 31.5% lower than expected.
Delivery of the equipment is scheduled for July 2027, taking into account the production time of the main component of this equipment set — cyclotrons — which exceeds one year.
The nuclear medicine centers are planned to be built in two cities — in Kyiv, based at the National Cancer Institute, and in Lviv, based at the Lviv Regional Oncological Diagnostic and Treatment Center.
The procurement was financed by the European Union through the Ukraine Facility instrument.
One set of equipment for creating a nuclear medicine center consists of 46 items. The main element is a cyclotron — a particle accelerator that directs a beam of energy onto special materials or capsules (targets) to obtain radioactive isotopes.
The nuclear medicine center also includes the setup of a radiochemical laboratory for the production of radiopharmaceuticals, which are made using the radioactive isotopes “extracted” by the cyclotron.
Mostly, a radioactive isotope of fluorine is used for this purpose, embedding it into a glucose molecule since glucose is the main source of energy for cells. At the same time, tumor cells consume more glucose than normal ones because they grow and divide faster.
After such a radiopharmaceutical is injected into a patient’s body, it accumulates in cancerous tissues and “highlights” these areas during scanning with a positron emission tomography and computed tomography (PET-CT). Such diagnostics help detect cancer at early stages and ensure timely treatment.
The half-life of a fluorine-based radiopharmaceutical is about 110 minutes — an extremely short time, making long-distance transportation impossible. That is why hospitals establish nuclear medicine centers that allow the production of radiopharmaceuticals directly near the PET-CT diagnostic room.
The MPU notes that in developed countries, there are 1–3 PET-CT scanners per million inhabitants, while in Ukraine there are only five such machines providing positron emission tomography services under the Medical Guarantees Program (MGP), with only two nuclear medicine centers equipped with cyclotrons for radiopharmaceutical production.
According to the National Cancer Registry, on average 80% of cancer cases in Ukraine are diagnosed at late stages (III–IV), with poorer recovery forecasts. At the same time, oncologists note that if cancer is diagnosed at stage I, it can be cured in 90–100% of cases, at stage II — in 70–80%, and at stage III — in 30–35%.
