Press briefing of Cabinet Decision taken on 2021-03-29

Establishment of Cyclotron Based Radio - Pharmaceutical Production Centre in Sri Lanka

Fluoro Deoxy Glucose (18F-FDG) which is a radioactive drug, is used for PET and CT tests to diagnose cancers. A special device called Cyclotron is used to produce this drug and this radioactive drug is imported from India since the required facilities are not available in Sri Lanka. Due to its radioactive decaying nature, about 97% of the strength of the drug losses when it is imported from India. Only 10 patients can be treated from the remaining capacity. Although, about 30,000 patients are required to undergo the relevant test annually, only 1600 patients can be tested due to the above reason. It costs Rs. 54,000 to the government to test one patient using the imported drug and If the drug is manufactured locally, the cost can be reduced to Rs. 14,000. Taking into consideration this situation, the Government has planned to set up a Cyclotron based Radio-pharmaceutical Production Centre in Sri Lanka in the premises of Kotelawala Defence University Hospital, Werahera in collaboration with the Atomic Energy Board of Sri Lanka and Sir Jhon Kotelawala Defence University. Accordingly, the proposal made by the Minister of Power to implement the said project, was approved by the Cabinet.