pharmaceutical · input
Carbon-13 (13C) is a non-radioactive stable isotope of carbon constituting 1.1% of natural carbon. Enriched C-13 is produced by gas centrifuge separation of carbon monoxide (13CO vs. 12CO). Primary applications: (1) 13C-urea breath test — the gold standard non-invasive diagnostic for Helicobacter pylori infection (cause of stomach ulcers and gastric cancer); used in billions of tests globally; (2) 13C-labeled compounds for pharmaceutical metabolic studies and drug metabolism tracking; (3) Carbon-13 NMR spectroscopy for pharmaceutical structure determination. Russia (via Rosatom/TENEX) and Isotec/Sigma-Aldrich (US/Merck) are the primary global C-13 producers. The same centrifuge technology used for uranium enrichment also separates stable isotopes.
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Source countries
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Companies
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Goods affected
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Claims on record
Where it comes from
Share of global supply, by country.
| Country | Share of supply |
|---|---|
| RURussia | 45% |
| USUnited States | 28% |
| DEGermany | 10% |
| CNChina | 8% |
Who makes it
3 companies produce carbon-13 (c-13) stable isotope (medical diagnostics & pharmaceutical).
Russian state-owned uranium enrichment trading company, wholly owned by Rosatom. Supplied ~27% of US LEU before the August 2024 US import ban. Russia holds ~44% of global uranium enrichment capacity (USEC). Imposed its own export ban on US-bound LEU in November 2024.
US-based stable isotope manufacturer and distributor; one of the world's largest commercial suppliers of 13C-labeled compounds, deuterium-labeled compounds, and other stable isotopes for pharmaceutical research and diagnostics. Manufactures 13C-urea for H. pylori breath tests and custom-labeled pharmaceuticals for metabolism studies. Subsidiary of Merck KGaA (MilliporeSigma) since 2017, though operated with significant operational independence.
German multinational producing the Hi-Flow Plus nitrocellulose membrane — one of the two industry-standard LFA membranes globally. Received a €121M US DoD/HHS contract to build the first US lateral flow membrane facility in Sheboygan, WI (2022) to reduce concentration risk in Cork, Ireland.
