GE Cyclotron World Premiere at the University of Szeged

The University of Szeged (SZTE) will be the first in the world to install GE HealthCare's new compact cyclotron, the MINItrace Magnit, which will serve education, research, and patient care, while also strengthening relationships with industrial partners, Rector László Rovó emphasized on Tuesday.

At a press conference on the development, the professor of medicine said that once the Regional Cyclotron and Radiopharmaceutical Supply Center is completed, the institution will be able to produce the radioisotope preparations needed for research and patient care.

Among the many possible applications of the technology and equipment, the rector highlighted the treatment of cancer. As an example, he mentioned that the Institute of Nuclear Medicine at the University of Szeged recently launched a treatment that is unique in Hungary. This targeted radioisotope therapy improves the survival chances of patients with advanced prostate cancer.

University chancellor Judit Fendler explained that, as a regional service provider, the University of Szeged performs more than 3,000 PET/CT examinations annually. Until now, the radiopharmaceutical preparations required for the examinations had to be obtained from external sources. There are some preparations for research and therapeutic purposes that are either completely unavailable or only available at very high prices due to the distance they have to be transported. The new center will fill this gap. There is no similar production capacity in the region, including the nearby border areas, despite the fact that demand for the product is expected to grow in the future.

The center will also be able to produce isotopes that are playing an increasingly important role in rapidly developing radioisotope-based therapies. These new isotopes open up significant research and development opportunities for academic or industry-led projects, particularly in oncology-focused clinical research. The center, built at a cost of approximately HUF 3 billion, will be able to manufacture radioisotope preparations from the first quarter of 2027.

György Erőss, project manager at GE Health Care, recalled that it was just over twenty years ago that the first cyclotron used to produce radioisotope-based preparations was put into operation in Hungary. On Tuesday morning, GE Health Care's state-of-the-art cyclotron, the MINItrace Magnit, arrived in Szeged.

The device is small in size — about the size of an industrial refrigerator — but has a large capacity, enabling SZTE to produce 99% of the isotopes used in healthcare, the expert said.

The University of Szeged plays a leading role in nuclear medicine, combining diagnostic and therapeutic procedures in theranostics. GE Health Care wishes to participate as a partner in the development of this field, not only at the national level, but also at the regional level, György Erőss emphasized.