Amersham plc was a manufacturer of radiopharmaceutical products, to be used in diagnostic and therapeutic nuclear medicine procedures. The company became GE Healthcare following a takeover in 2003, which was based at the original site in Amersham, Buckinghamshire until 2016, when the headquarters moved to Chicago.[1]
History
Chilcote House in Little Chalfont near Amersham was first used for extraction of radium from radium concentrates in 1940, under Walter Patrick Grove. Over the next four years over 500 kilograms of radium bromide was produced, to be used to make luminous dials and instruments.[2] In 1946 the facility was taken over by the Ministry of Supply and it became known as the "national centre for the processing and distribution of radium, radon and artificial radioactive substances for scientific, medical and industrial purposes".[3] With a new focus on healthcare and industrial applications, the site was expanded, and by 1949 when the name changed to "The Radiochemical Centre (TRC), Amersham", the production included radium gas capsules for cancer treatment and