The $7 Billion Bet That Could Reshape Nuclear Medicine

Why Curium Wants In

Curium isn't some random suitor. It's the largest independent platform in nuclear medicine, serving about 14 million patients per year across more than 70 countries. The company offers more than 50 radiopharmaceutical products and runs an enormous manufacturing network that includes a molybdenum-99 facility in the Netherlands, three major SPECT facilities, and approximately 10 high-energy cyclotrons along with over 40 radiopharmacies.

CapVest created Curium in 2017 by merging IBA Molecular (which it had acquired in 2016) with Mallinckrodt's nuclear medicine business. Since then, it's been on an acquisition spree, adding companies like IASON GmbH and Cyclopharma's French operations. In November 2025, CapVest recapitalized Curium through a $7 billion continuation vehicle, the largest deal ever in nuclear medicine at the time, bringing in investors like ICG, TPG, Goldman Sachs Alternatives, and others.

Now Curium wants to bolt on Lantheus. The strategic logic is straightforward: Curium is strong in Europe, Lantheus dominates the U.S. Combine them and you get a global radiopharmaceutical behemoth with both diagnostic and therapeutic capabilities. Curium is also building a pipeline of radioligand therapies (RLTs) targeting prostate and neuroendocrine cancers, which would pair neatly with Pylarify's diagnostic imaging platform.

The Radiopharmaceutical Gold Rush

This deal doesn't exist in a vacuum. Over the past two years, big pharma has been throwing billions at radiopharmaceuticals like a kid in an arcade with a roll of quarters.

Bristol Myers Squibb grabbed RayzeBio for $4.1 billion in early 2024. AstraZeneca scooped up Fusion Pharmaceuticals for roughly $2 billion. Novartis acquired Mariana Oncology for up to $1.75 billion while its existing radioligand therapies, Lutathera and Pluvicto, are on track to exceed $2 billion in combined sales. Eli Lilly bought POINT Biopharma for about $1.4 billion and layered on collaborations with Radionetics (up to $1.14 billion) and Aktis Oncology ($60 million upfront).

The thesis is simple: radioligand therapies are one of the most exciting new modalities in oncology. You attach a radioactive isotope to a molecule that targets cancer cells, and you deliver radiation directly to the tumor while sparing healthy tissue. It's like a guided missile versus carpet bombing. And you need diagnostic imaging agents (like Pylarify) to find the targets first.

What makes the Lantheus/Curium situation unusual is that this isn't big pharma doing the buying. It's a PE-backed platform competing for the same assets that Novartis, BMS, and Lilly are chasing. That signals something important: private equity sees radiopharmaceuticals not as a niche but as core oncology infrastructure worth owning at scale.

What Wall Street Thinks

Analysts are cautiously optimistic. Of seven covering the stock, six rate it Buy or Outperform. Mizuho and Truist both raised their price targets to $115 in late May 2026 following deal rumors. The consensus target sits around $105.

The wrinkle: LNTH was already trading in the mid-$90s when the news broke, which means the stock has largely priced in a reasonable probability of a deal. If talks collapse, analysts suggest shares could pull back toward standalone-value targets in the $80s. If a bidding war erupts (perhaps a big pharma player jumping in), there could be meaningful upside.

Interim CEO Mary Heino has called 2026 "a year of commercial execution and regulatory milestones." William Blair noted that management acknowledges a guidance revision is likely overdue but will probably wait until a permanent CEO is in place. That leadership vacuum adds another layer of uncertainty to the situation.

The Big Picture

Lantheus at $7 billion would be one of the largest radiopharmaceutical deals ever. It would create a company with global reach, a diversified diagnostic portfolio, and an expanding therapeutic pipeline, all under PE ownership rather than a pharma conglomerate's umbrella.

But plenty can go wrong. Antitrust regulators in both the U.S. and EU will scrutinize a combination of two major nuclear medicine players. Pylarify's pricing headwinds aren't going away; competition from alternative PSMA tracers and theranostic bundling by larger pharma players will only intensify. And the FDA recently extended its review of Lantheus's diagnostic imaging kit LNTH-2501 by three months, a reminder that pipeline risk is always lurking.

For now, both sides are at the negotiating table. No binding agreement, no confirmed price per share, no regulatory filings. Just a number on a napkin and a lot of smart people trying to figure out if it's the right one.

The next few weeks should tell us whether this becomes the deal that reshapes nuclear medicine, or just another M&A headline that fizzled out.

Big Pharma Is Betting More Than $350 Billion That America Can Make Its Own Drugs Again

Biopharma companies have pledged a jaw-dropping $292 billion to build drug factories in the U.S. since January. But between 100% tariffs, five-year construction timelines, and a severe talent shortage, the gap between promise and production is wider than anyone wants to admit.