Access Engineering’s medical plant eyes early 2026 launch to produce critical cancer-detecting isotopes

Access Engineering PLC is poised to commence production at Sri Lanka’s first radiopharmaceutical plant by early next year, a landmark venture expected to revolutionise cancer diagnosis and treatment in the country. 

This initiative aims to address a critical healthcare gap by locally manufacturing the essential isotopes for PET scans, ultimately saving lives through early and more accurate cancer detection.

In an exclusive interview with Mirror Business, Access Engineering Executive Vice Chairman Christopher Joshua highlighted the profound impact this project would have on the nation’s healthcare landscape. 

“The most recent area for us is radiopharmaceuticals. This is a huge need in this country,” Joshua stated, underscoring the decade-long national effort to establish a cyclotron facility for producing these vital medical tracers.

The project, a joint venture named Access Medical Tracers (Private) Limited, is a collaboration between Access Engineering (60 percent stake), Access International (20 percent), the Health Ministry (10 percent) and Power and Energy Ministry through the Atomic Energy Authority (10 percent). 

This public-private partnership is dedicated to producing fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG), a critical radioactive tracer used in positron emission tomography (PET) scans for cancer diagnosis and treatment monitoring.

Sri Lanka faces a significant challenge in cancer care, with an estimated 30,000 new cases detected annually and approximately 15,000 deaths. A major hurdle in combating the disease is the low rate of early detection. 

“Out of the 30,000 people, only 2,000 people currently get scanned,” Joshua revealed.

Currently, Sri Lanka imports FDG isotopes from India, at a substantial cost. The efficacy of these isotopes diminishes significantly during transportation, due to their short half-life. 

“If you import a 100 percent potent product from India, by the time it’s delivered to a hospital, it has maybe 25 percent of the potency,” Joshua explained. 

This not only reduces diagnostic accuracy but also limits the availability of PET scans, which are currently underutilised at facilities such as the Apeksha Hospital and Asiri Hospital.

The local production of FDG by Access Medical Tracers is set to be a game-changer. By eliminating the reliance on imports, the facility will ensure a steady and affordable supply of high-potency isotopes, making PET scans more accessible to a larger segment of the population. This will facilitate earlier and more precise cancer detection, which is crucial for improving treatment outcomes and survival rates. 

“By the time they detect [cancer], they have already proceeded a lot with the disease. So, the treatment is one thing that’s expensive at that stage and the survival rate also drops because early detection is not there,” Joshua elaborated.

Leveraging its core engineering expertise, Access Engineering is fast-tracking the construction of the facility. 

“Because we’re an engineering company, you know, we got involved in this with the designs and we are trying to commission it by early next year,” Joshua confirmed. 

The plant’s production capacity will initially meet the country’s minimum requirements, with the potential for expansion as demand grows with the availability of the raw material.

The venture also holds promising export potential, particularly to the neighbouring countries with direct flight connections. The Maldives, which has PET scanners, has already expressed interest in sourcing the isotope from Sri Lanka, once production begins. 

“The Maldives also has PET scans and they are already inquiring with us to get this product in also, once we manufacture it,” Joshua said. 

(NF)