End of an era

After 60 years (1964-2024), our work in the W&N building of the Vrije Universiteit at Boelelaan 1081 in Amsterdam comes to an end. It’s the end of an era. We feel a bit melancholic but are also excited about our new home in the Imaging Center Amsterdam.

We look back with pride on our research activities with the 28 MeV AVF Philips cyclotron, where the foundation for BV Cyclotron VU was laid. Since 1987, we have been producing radiopharmaceuticals and radionuclides first for the SPECT market and later followed by PET tracers. For example, we have produced Iodine-123, Thallium-201, Rubidium-81 and Galium-67. And later we started producing Fluorine-18, Iodine-124 and Zirconium-89. From 1997 we expanded production with daily productions of ¹⁸F-FDG and the first IBA cyclotron was installed. Followed by the second IBA cyclotron in 2004 and the third IBA cyclotron in 2009.

In recent times we have gradually moved to the Imaging Center, moving the products one by one and switching off the old cyclotrons. Finally, the cyclotrons and hot cells have all been repurposed elsewhere in Europe. So, what we once started will not be lost.

We look back one more time with the video of the Polygoon news from 1966, in which you can see how the cyclotron was ‘state-of-the-art’ at that time, just as we now have a ‘state-of-the-art’ GMP production location in the Imaging Center.

https://nl.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bestand:Vrije_Universiteit-511734.ogv

Produced: Polygoon-Profilti (producer)/Nederlands Instituut voor Beeld en Geluid(manager), Publication date: October 1, 1966.

We are leaving the old building and giving the VU the space to continue dismantling the Philips cyclotron and then demolish the building.