Lanthanide Radionuclide Production

描述(申请人提供)：基于单抗的放射免疫治疗癌症治疗方法最近取得了重大进展，其中几种新一代抗体治疗方法在人体试验中显示出良好的疗效，目前正在等待FDA的批准。随着这种高度工程化的新一代单抗的出现，对商业上可获得的放射性核素的需求也越来越大。不幸的是，生产下一代放射性同位素的方法没有跟上步伐。这一小型企业技术转让第一阶段项目将开发一种生产放射性药品所用放射性核素的改进方法。该方法将允许经济地生产大量的稀土放射性核素，这些放射性核素随后可用于放射免疫治疗。在第一阶段，将开发和测试一种使用特殊稀土螯合物的新型Szilard-Chalmers工艺。新的稀土络合物将被大量合成，然后在密苏里大学研究反应堆使用中子激活来测试整个生产过程。与公众健康相关：目前的放射性同位素生产依赖于必须在核反应堆中央核心最高通量(最昂贵)位置进行辐射的同位素提纯的起始材料。如果成功，TDA的新Szilard-Chalmers工艺预计将通过允许使用非同位素净化的起始材料来降低生产成本，这些原料在反应堆中更具成本效益的低.nux位置进行中子辐照。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Major advances have recently been made in the development of monoclonal antibody-based radioimmunotherapy cancer treatments, and several of these next generation antibody treatments have demonstrated good efficacy in human trials and are currently awaiting FDA approval. With this new generation of highly engineered monoclonal antibodies comes the need for a wider array of commercially available radionuclides. Unfortunately, methods for producing the next generation of radioisotopes has not kept pace. This Small Business Technology Transfer Phase I project will develop an improved method for the production of radionuclides used in radiopharmaceuticals. The method will allow the economical production of a wide array of lanthanide radionuclides which can subsequently be employed for radioimmunotherapy treatments. During Phase I, a new type of Szilard-Chalmers process using pecialized lanthanide chelates will be developed and tested. The new lanthanide chelate will be synthesized in bulk quantities and then the entire production process will be tested using neutron activation at the Missouri University Research Reactor. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Current radioisotope production relies on isotopically purified starting materials that must be irradiated at the highest flux (most expensive) position in the central core of the nuclear reactor. If successful, TDA's new Szilard-Chalmers process is expected to lower production costs by allowing the use of non-isotopically purified starting materials that are neutron irradiated at the more cost effective low .nux positions in the reactor.