ASP Isotopes (NASDAQ:ASPI) Chief Executive Officer Paul Mann provided an update on the company’s isotope production strategy and near-term commercialization plans during a presentation at the Emerging Growth Conference, outlining progress across medical isotopes, semiconductor materials, and nuclear fuel initiatives.
Business overview and recent acquisition
Mann described ASP Isotopes as a pre-commercial stage advanced materials company focused on producing isotopes for three primary end markets: medical, semiconductors, and nuclear energy. He said the company now has three subsidiaries, including:
- Quantum Leap Energy (QLE), focused on nuclear fuels including HALEU (high-assay low-enriched uranium) and lithium isotopes (lithium-6 and lithium-7), which the company intends to spin out as a separate entity.
- PET Labs, which Mann said is profitable and operates radiopharmacies producing radioisotopes for oncology applications, with three radio pharmacies (two in the U.S. and one in South Africa). He noted PET Labs is South Africa’s leading supplier of radioisotopes for PET scanning.
- The core ASP Isotopes operation, focused on stable isotopes used in semiconductors and nuclear medicine.
Isotope supply chain and production technologies
Mann emphasized the geopolitical dynamics of isotope supply, stating that Russia controls about 85% of the stable isotope supply, with Europe supplying most of the balance, and that there is no significant domestic isotope production in the United States—an opportunity ASP Isotopes intends to address.
He outlined two proprietary isotope separation methods:
- Aerodynamic Separation Process (ASP): A stationary tube in which the gas spins to separate heavier from lighter isotopes. Mann said it can be cheaper and faster to build than traditional centrifuge plants and can enrich light isotopes (such as silicon-28 and carbon-14) that are difficult to do with conventional centrifuges, though it uses more energy.
- Quantum Enrichment: A laser-based process that vaporizes a metal and uses a laser to excite a specific isotope, then collects it. Mann said the company has built one Quantum Enrichment plant in South Africa.
Mann said ASP Isotopes has built two ASP plants and one Quantum Enrichment plant in South Africa and plans further expansion, including building plants in Iceland due to abundant low-cost energy, pending final permitting.
Nuclear medicine: near-term products and commercial ramp
Mann said nuclear medicine is growing rapidly and framed ASP Isotopes’ strategy as vertically integrated: producing stable isotopes that are later converted near the point of care into radioisotopes with short half-lives. He highlighted ytterbium-176 as the first nuclear medicine stable isotope plant expected to come online, explaining it is needed to produce lutetium-177, used in Novartis’ drug Pluvicto, which Mann said is about a $2 billion drug today and is forecast to exceed $4 billion in the future.
According to Mann, the ytterbium-176 plant has already enriched material and shipped an initial customer sample in small quantities. He said the company is working to scale production, targeting roughly one kilogram per year and aiming for commercial production on that scale “later on this year” as equipment upgrades are completed.
He also discussed other medical isotopes in development:
- Zinc-68, used to make gallium-68 for cancer diagnostics. Mann said supply is primarily from Russia and a small European facility, and cited external forecasts that the market could grow significantly over the next 10 to 20 years.
- Molybdenum-100, which Mann called the “largest opportunity” longer-term. He contrasted the current molybdenum-99 market (which he said is about $4 billion) with the logistics advantages of shipping stable molybdenum-100, saying ASP would supply this market when it is ready.
For carbon-14, Mann said ASP Isotopes signed a long-term take-or-pay agreement with a Canadian customer, with a minimum take-or-pay of about $2.5 million per year. He said the company expects the business could be closer to $5 million per year depending on market development, and characterized the product as high gross margin (he cited 85% to 90%). Mann said carbon-14 feedstock was expected to arrive in the first quarter and that the plant could begin producing revenue in the second quarter. He added that the carbon-14 plant has been producing carbon-12 and that the company supplied carbon-12 samples to customers late last year.
Semiconductors: silicon-28 shipments and customer activity
Mann said the company sees isotopically pure materials as a path to extending performance improvements in semiconductors. He identified silicon-28 as a key product and said ASP Isotopes has signed three contracts for silicon-28: one with a large U.S. semiconductor company, one with a large global industrial gas company, and one with another large U.S. buyer (names not disclosed). He said the company expects to ship under those contracts during the first half of the year.
During Q&A, Mann said the company has produced silicon-28 test samples enriched “just above 99%,” and noted measurement requirements are stringent, with only a small number of laboratories capable of verifying enrichment at very high purity levels and measuring impurities to parts-per-trillion. He said a customer visited the South Africa facility and recommended changes, which the company is implementing. After completing final equipment upgrades, Mann said the plant would restart and the company expects its first commercial silicon-28 product about 18 days later.
Quantum Leap Energy spin-off and nuclear fuel permitting
Mann reiterated the company’s intention to spin out Quantum Leap Energy and said ASP Isotopes has filed an S-1 with the SEC. During Q&A, he said there are restrictions on what the company can disclose while the filing is pending and attributed slower timing to SEC staffing reductions and the impact of a prior government shutdown. He said he expects the spin-off process to complete in the first half of the year, while noting it is subject to regulatory review and back-and-forth comments.
On nuclear fuel, Mann said future small modular reactors are expected to require HALEU enriched to 19.75% and argued there is currently no Western supplier. He said TerraPower has been delayed due to a lack of HALEU supply and that ASP Isotopes aims to become a supplier, with Quantum Enrichment positioned as its preferred method due to a higher enrichment factor.
Responding to questions on permitting, Mann said he expects South Africa to be first for uranium enrichment permissions, followed by the U.K., then the U.S., while cautioning timelines could change. He said the company announced a framework agreement with NECSA at Pelindaba that “came with permission to enrich” using the ASP method, and said scientists would begin test work there in the coming weeks. He also said the company expects a similar arrangement for Quantum Enrichment in “weeks or months.”
In closing remarks, Mann characterized the current year as “transformational,” pointing to planned commercial production across multiple facilities, including ASP and Quantum Enrichment plants as well as the helium/natural gas business associated with Renergen.
About ASP Isotopes (NASDAQ:ASPI)
ASP Isotopes Inc, a development stage advanced materials company, focuses on the production, distribution, marketing, and sale of isotopes. It engages in the production and commercialization of Molybdenum-100, a non-radioactive isotope for the medical industry; Carbon-14; and Silicon-28. The company is also developing Quantum Enrichment technology to produce Ytterbium-176, Nickel-64, Lithium 6, Lithium7, and Uranium-235. ASP Isotopes Inc was incorporated in 2021 and is headquartered in Washington, District Of Columbia.
