JANESVILLE, Wis., Sept. 4, 2019 – SHINE Medical Technologies LLC today announced the appointment of Harrie Buurlage as vice president, European operations. Mr. Buurlage will oversee all of SHINE’s activities in Europe, including the company’s siting, construction and operation of a medical isotope production facility there.
Mr. Buurlage brings more than 25 years of experience in the nuclear medicine industry to his new role at SHINE, including positions in management, operations, and sales and marketing.
Mr. Buurlage was chief operating officer and then managing director of NRG, an international nuclear service provider, in the Netherlands. Among other things, Mr. Buurlage oversaw the operation of all of NRG’s nuclear installations, including the Dutch High Flux medical isotope production facility in Petten, which produces isotopes used in more than 30,000 patient treatments a day. He led a multi-year transition of the company from a science institute to a more robust health care organization.
Before joining NRG, Mr. Buurlage was global director of manufacturing for Covidien USA, now Curium Pharma, where he was responsible for radiopharmaceutical isotope manufacturing and distribution at facilities in the Netherlands, United Kingdom and United States. Mr. Buurlage oversaw the addition of a new reactor to Covidien’s supply chain in only nine months. He also drove logistical improvements in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and was global chairman of the company’s nuclear medicine council.
Earlier in this career, Mr. Buurlage spent nearly 15 years at Mallinckrodt, where he served in positions of increasing responsibility at Petten, including managing director of Mallinckrodt Medical (MM) B.V. and director of EMEA operations.
“It is well known that current European producers of medical isotopes are planning to cease operations in the next several years, and SHINE is excited to be in a position to ensure that Europeans have uninterrupted access to the life-saving products our team and technology can provide,” said Greg Piefer, founder and CEO of SHINE. “Harrie’s experience in the nuclear industry and European market, and his management, operations and logistics expertise will be invaluable to SHINE as we execute our plan there. We look forward to working with Harrie to make a SHINE European presence a reality, and provide for a robust European and global supply chain.”
Mr. Buurlage studied applied physics at the University of Groningen. He earned certification as a radiation safety officer at the University of Leiden, the highest-level certification of its kind in Europe, which allows holders to supervise large, complex nuclear sites.
“The company’s accelerator technology, talented team and vision for Europe, the United States and the rest of the world are incredibly compelling,” Mr. Buurlage said. “I know the European market well and am confident that SHINE will play a significant role here and in the global market, particularly because of its safer, cleaner and more cost-effective production process.”
Medical isotopes are radioisotopes that are used in the diagnosis and treatment of disease. Molybdenum-99 (Mo-99) is a radioisotope that decays into the diagnostic imaging agent technetium 99m (Tc-99m). The workhorse of nuclear medicine, Tc-99m is used in more than 40 million medical imaging procedures each year, primarily in stress tests to diagnose heart disease and to stage cases of cancer. SHINE was founded to deploy a safe, cost-effective and environmentally friendly technology to produce a variety of medical isotopes, including Mo‑99. Roughly one percent of all Mo-99 in the world decays every hour, meaning it must be produced continuously. Current production is limited to only a handful of government-owned nuclear research reactors, the majority of which are overseas.
Based in Janesville, Wisconsin, SHINE deploys its safe, cost-effective and environmentally friendly fusion technology in a stepwise approach. Its systems are used to inspect industrial components in aerospace, defense, energy and other sectors. SHINE’s proprietary medical isotope production processes create non-carrier-added lutetium-177 and are expected to create molybdenum-99. In the future, SHINE plans to scale its fusion technology to help solve one of energy’s toughest hurdles by recycling nuclear waste. Through a purpose-driven and phased approach, SHINE aims to generate fusion power to deliver clean, abundant energy that could transform life on Earth. Want to learn more about SHINE? Follow us on social media @shinefusion and sign up for our email newsletter to follow us on our journey!
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