Production of 89Zr on High Current Cyclotron Solid Target
Although there are currently suppliers for 89Zr, it is anticipated with its increasing use in PET imaging that additional supply will be required to meet demand. This project seeks to develop a method to make large amounts of 89Zr using a type of particle accelerator called a cyclotron. Our group has previously developed a solid target station to produce a different isotope, which will be adapted to produce 89Zr. We will also develop techniques to purify the 89Zr to the GMP specifications required for use in humans, and demonstrate the synthesis of two 89Zr -labelled antibodies that are currently used in an expensive cancer treatment called immune checkpoint therapy. We hope that such 89Zr-labelled antibodies will be able to predict which patients will respond to this therapy in order to decide whether individual patients would benefit from the therapy or from an alternative treatment.