British lab taps Nucletron radiotherapy technology

The National Physical Laboratory (NPL), a national measurement institute in Teddington, England, has purchased a Flexitron afterloader from Nucletron, an Elekta company.

NPL will continue to offer its brachytherapy calibration service with the new afterloader, and ensure source calibrations in radiotherapy centers remain traceable to NPL's primary standard. Veenendaal, The Netherlands-based Nucletron and NPL have collaborated since 1992.

Flexitron is designed to treat both very small and very large tumors without reconnections, in 1 mm steps, according to NPL. Determination of source positions is enhanced with Nucletron's reference source positioning system, which defines dwell positions in absolute values.

Around the web

The tirzepatide shortage that first began in 2022 has been resolved. Drug companies distributing compounded versions of the popular drug now have two to three more months to distribute their remaining supply.

The 24 members of the House Task Force on AI—12 reps from each party—have posted a 253-page report detailing their bipartisan vision for encouraging innovation while minimizing risks. 

Merck sent Hansoh Pharma, a Chinese biopharmaceutical company, an upfront payment of $112 million to license a new investigational GLP-1 receptor agonist. There could be many more payments to come if certain milestones are met.