Our history

About

In 2021, IRE will celebrate its 50th anniversary. Half a century of innovations at the service of health and nuclear medicine.

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1971 - 1973

1973 - 1978

1978 - 1991

Creation of the production unit of ¹⁹²Ir, for sealed sources.
Construction of the first cyclotron.
Pharmaceutical approval of the company.
Creation of molecules marked with tritium and ¹⁴C.
Production of tritiated thymidine.
Production of ⁸⁵Kr fire detectors.
Production of ⁶⁰Co discs.
Production of ¹⁹²Ir industrial radiography equipment.
Development of injectable radioactive preparations based on ⁵⁹Fe, ⁴⁷Ca, ¹⁹⁷Hg and ⁸⁵Sr, as well as ¹⁹²Ir sutures and pins (brachytherapy).
Creation of the concept for a repetitive elution ^99mTc dry generator.
Creation of the transport subsidiary company TRANSRAD.

1991 - 2008

Impact of Regionalization on some of the IRE’s activities:
- Sale of the radiopharmaceutical product lines to the NORDION group.
- Divestment of the sterilization and radioimmunology testing activities.
- Refocusing of the IRE activity on the core businesses with the production of the medical radioisotopes ⁹⁹Mo, ¹³¹I and ¹³³Xe.
Major investments in the context of the redeployment of radiopharmaceutical activities.
Development of equipment for the remote monitoring of environmental radioactivity and radiological monitoring missions within the territory.
Support by IRE of the development of the company IBA, which also invested in the Fleurus site (R&D activities supported by a prototype 14 MeV SE cyclotron).

2008 - 2010

Important expansion of international commercial activities. In addition to the European market, IRE takes a significant role as a major stakeholder in North America, Asia, and the Middle East. This achievement provided IRE with a leadership position in the production of ⁹⁹Mo and ¹³¹I.
Substantial investments in the renovation of installations in terms of safety, security and quality.

2010

Creation of the IRE ELiT subsidiary.
New development in radiopharmaceutical activities in the diagnostic and therapy sectors (⁹⁰Y, ¹⁸⁸Re, ⁶⁸Ga, etc.).
Major consultancy contracts worldwide (European Commission, IAEA, etc.).

2010 - 2015

New IRE communication policy in relation to its environment.
Growth in revenue from 2010 to 2015: 140%.
Growth in headcount from 2010 to 2015: 53%.
Launch of research partnerships worldwide.
First partnership with Belgian universities in the field of medical research.
Major participation in the NEA/OECD High-Level Group (HLG) on the Security of Supply of Medical Radioisotopes.
Important IRE role in AIPES (Association of Imaging Producers & Equipment Suppliers).
Participation in the BioWin Health Cluster of the Walloon region (southern part of Belgium).

2016

IRE ELiT launches Galli Eo (a Germanium-68/Gallium-68 generator) on the market, a major and totally innovative advance in the field of cancer imaging.

2018

IRE announces a partnership with the company ASML, with the aim of developing a new method for the production of medical isotopes, without fission, such as Mo-99/Tc-99m. This is the beginning of the SMART project.
IRE and SCK CEN announce the signature of a Public-Public Partnership called RECUMO which provides a structural solution to manage the residues from the production of medical radioisotopes stored on the IRE site in Fleurus.

IRE ELiT takes a key step in the conquest of the radiopharmaceuticals market and obtains marketing authorisation in Europe for its Gallium-68 generator, which will henceforth be called Galli Ad on this territory.

2019

The first transport of irradiated material was made from Fleurus to Mol. This transport is part of the public-public partnership between the IRE and SCK CEN.
IRE ELiT's Service Business Unit officially launched RAMSES, the first automatic real-time radiological monitoring system, on the market at the SFRP congress.
IRE officialises the acquisition of the activities of the Service Business Unit of its subsidiary IRE ELiT. The Business Unit Service is now called IRE Lab.