An Arizona-based medical manufacturing company will soon open a new facility in Miami County.  As IPR’s Stephanie Wiechmann reports, the company says Indiana has the skilled scientists it needs.

Arizona Isotopes Research Corporation makes radionuclide medical isotopes.  They’re used in cardiovascular infusions, heart or circulatory imaging, and prostate cancer treatments.  Wade Brooksby with Arizona Isotopes says the radioactive component is very low –

“In some cases, you’re talking about maybe two or three times the level of an oral X-ray.”

The company is spending more than $44 million to outfit and expand a shell building in Bunker Hill.  It chose the location partly for its proximity to Grissom Air Reserve Base, as the base’s long runway can help it distribute the finished isotopes to the US and abroad.

It’s also selected Indiana for its potential workforce – those studying engineering, physics, and chemistry.

“The nice thing about Indiana: you have a very large stable of those type of skill sets.  Coming from Arizona, we were believing that we had to relocate a lot of these individuals from the Midwest.  But now that we’ve decided to be here, we have tremendous access to that skill base.”

The Indiana Economic Development Corporation says state numbers show Indiana is the second largest exporter of life sciences products in the U.S.  That business was worth more than $10 billion last year.

Arizona Isotopes tells state officials it will create up to 40 new jobs by the end of 2022.