Nuclear technology plays an essential but often overlooked role in modern medicine. Its applications go far beyond power generation and national defense, directly improving lives through medical diagnostics and treatments.

Cancer is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. However, advances in nuclear medicine have revolutionized cancer care over recent decades.

Medical isotopes produced through nuclear processes enable precision imaging technologies that help clinicians detect cancers earlier and guide more effective minimally invasive treatments.

Positron emission tomography (PET) scanning is a prime example. By tracking radioactive tracers injected into the body, PET reveals metabolic changes at the cellular level to identify tumors and determine their stage and aggressiveness. This provides vital information for personalized treatment planning.

One of the most important PET radiotracers is fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG), a glucose molecule tagged with radioactive fluorine-18.

As cancer cells metabolize glucose at a higher rate, FDG-PET/CT scanning can detect even small tumors that may be invisible on other imaging modalities. It is now considered the gold standard for diagnosing and monitoring many types of cancer.

Other emerging PET radiopharmaceuticals like fluorocholine and prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) ligands are revolutionizing the management of prostate cancer.

PSMA PET/CT scanning in particular has transformed how high-risk and metastatic prostate cancer is detected and treated.

Without a stable supply of medical isotopes, these kinds of life-saving diagnostic and therapeutic procedures would be impossible.

That is where a company like Lantheus (LNTH) comes in…

The company is the leader in innovative radiopharmaceuticals used in cardiology, oncology, and other areas of medical imaging.

It is also a major supplier of the critical radioactive isotopes and equipment used in diagnostic procedures.

It has the most utilized PSMA PET imaging agent with PYLARIFY and ultrasound enhancing agent with DEFINITY. The company already served more than 3.4 million patients in the first half of 2024.

Through its proprietary DEFINITY contrast agent, Lantheus has long dominated the ultrasound contrast imaging market for cardiology. Furthermore, the company has significantly expanded its oncology franchise in recent years.

Its flagship PSMA-targeted PET imaging agent PYLARIFY has achieved blockbuster status, becoming the standard of care for prostate cancer detection and management.

In 2023, Lantheus cemented its leadership in precision oncology diagnostics by acquiring Cerveau Technologies.

Cerveau’s portfolio of novel neurology-focused radiotracers immediately expanded the company’s addressable market and pipeline. The deal boosted its 2023 earnings growth significantly and set it up for continued strong performance in 2024 and beyond.

Lantheus managed to increase revenue by 60% and net income grew by adjusted net income by 46% in 2023 with the help of the acquisition.

The company also benefits from the secular trend of advanced personalized medicine relying more heavily on targeted molecular imaging.

As cancer therapies evolve to be increasingly tailored based on biomarkers and genomic profiles, the need for sensitive radiopharmaceutical-enhanced diagnostics will keep growing.

This provides the company with a significant long-term organic growth opportunity beyond inorganic deals.

While the market has yet to fully appreciate Lantheus’s strategic position and growth potential, the company remains well-positioned to continue delivering innovative precision diagnostics and critical isotope supply.

This enables further advances in minimally invasive cancer detection and treatment, ultimately improving patient outcomes.

Best regards,

Joel Litman & Rob Spivey
Chief Investment Strategist &
Director of Research
at Valens Research

Today’s highlight, Lantheus (LNTH) is one of the top stock picks from FA Alpha 50 this month. To see more stock picks like this, become an FA Alpha and get access to FA Alpha 50.