Turkey Takes Major Step in Global Health Technologies

Sabancı University Nanotechnology Research and Application Center SUNUM and Curium Nuclear Medicine Inc. signed a Technology Transfer Agreement on 18 July.

SUNUM Director Prof. Dr. Alpagut Kara stated, "This project we are implementing with Curium is an important step for the sustainability of domestic technology production." Aydın Küçük, Senior Vice President-Emerging Markets at Curium Nuclear Medicine Inc., said "Thanks to this collaboration, we are opening the way for further development of domestic systems that play a critical role in cancer diagnosis."

On Friday, 18 July 2025, at Sabancı University Nanotechnology Research and Application Center SUNUM, a "Technology Transfer Signing" was conducted with Curium Nuclear Medicine Inc., marking an important step toward the sustainability of domestic technology production. The knowledge and technology transfer ceremony, hosted by SUNUM Director Prof. Dr. Alpagut Kara, was attended by Aydın Küçük, Senior Vice President-Emerging Markets at Curium Nuclear Medicine Inc., and his team, as well as SUNUM Board of Directors Chairman Cevdet Alemdar, Board Members, and SUNUM researchers.

The project developed under the leadership of SUNUM Lead Senior Researcher Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mustafa Kemal Bayazıt and to be transferred to Curium involves making human-independent the processes from the scaled production of metal oxide particles serving as the column matrix through the column filling stage. These particles are placed in the columns of the product called Germanium/Gallium (⁶⁸Ge/⁶⁸Ga) Generator, used in cancer diagnosis, and play a key role.

Within the scope of the collaboration, the project being conducted enables domestic production at a certain scale of the column material, which is one of the most basic components of the ⁶⁸Ge/⁶⁸Ga Generator and ensures the safe and effective obtainment of radioactive substances necessary for diagnosis. Project outputs obtained following approximately 2 years of intensive work by SUNUM researchers are being transferred to Curium Nuclear Medicine Inc.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, SUNUM Director Prof. Dr. Alpagut Kara stated that this collaboration would make a strong contribution to Turkey's goals of localization in nuclear medicine and radiopharmaceuticals and gaining a voice in the international market. Noting that SUNUM's technology transfer and R&D competencies are at international standards, Kara emphasized that this agreement also reflects the Center's strong business development and commercialization culture and that they will continue their advanced technology-focused work without slowing down. Aydın Küçük, Senior Vice President-Emerging Markets at Curium, noted in his remarks that with this work, an important development would be recorded in Turkey in the field of health technologies for targeted diagnosis and treatment, continuing as follows: "Curium is one of the few companies in the world in the production of the ⁶⁸Ge/⁶⁸Ga Generator used in cancer diagnosis. This product is also used in the planning and response assessment of radioligand therapy (RLT), which is pioneering cancer treatment. Thanks to our production infrastructure in Turkey, we will not only touch patients' lives but also create significant export potential through high value-added production and contribute to increased qualified employment in our country. Through our advanced sales and distribution infrastructure on a global scale, this product will be exported to many countries from America to China."

Curium Nuclear Medicine Inc. is the Turkey structure of Curium Pharma, which is based in France and operates on a global scale in the field of nuclear medicine. Curium specializes worldwide in the development, production, and distribution of radiopharmaceutical products used in the diagnosis and treatment of various diseases, particularly cancer. Operating on a global scale, the company supplies products to thousands of hospitals and nuclear medicine centers. Distinguished by its patient-focused approach and high production standards, Curium aims to direct the future of nuclear medicine.

SUNUM, a National Research Infrastructure operating within the scope of Law No. 6550, conducts research and development activities in application areas ranging from medicine to chemistry, pharmaceuticals to energy, cosmetics to automotive, energy to agriculture, food to environment. SUNUM laboratories, housing numerous advanced equipment with rare technology in Turkey and the world, offer and provide research opportunities in various subjects such as imaging at atomic resolution, rapid gene sequencing for different cell types, multi-layered deposition of metals only a few atoms thick, and dielectric applications. SUNUM is working to be a Center of Excellence that is open to all stakeholders, continuously improving, sustainable, and exemplary and leading on a global scale.