SBIR Phase I: Developing Bioconjugation and Preparation of 18F-Biomolecules for PET Imaging

这个小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第一阶段项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是开发一种平台技术，用于设计和制备用于正电子发射断层扫描(PET)成像的新型高灵敏度诊断试剂(称为“放射性示踪剂”)。这项技术引入了用于疾病早期检测的新一代诊断试剂，并改进了用于成像和治疗方案的现有放射性药物。早期发现是患者生存的关键，因为它指导治疗决策，并使更好的针对性、评估和监测成为可能。这项技术可能会改变许多疾病和疾病的诊断和评估中的护理标准，而且还可以在地理上分散的地区提供更先进的临床护理。这个小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第一阶段项目将专注于开发18F标记的放射性示踪剂，用于检测前列腺癌、神经内分泌肿瘤和2型糖尿病。目前的化学技术使用的放射性核素要么与商业放射性药物不兼容，导致生产过程成本更高，患者获得的机会有限，要么涉及安全问题(例如，长期放射性暴露对细胞的损害)。18F是理想的放射性同位素，具有许多技术、商业和成像质量，但对于生产新产品来说，它的化学组成具有挑战性。这项技术克服了传统的化学挑战，并允许制备18F标记的放射性示踪剂作为生物结合试剂盒。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to develop a platform technology for the design and preparation of a new class of highly sensitive diagnostic agents (known as "radiotracers") for Positron Emission Tomography (PET) imaging. The technology introduces a new generation of diagnostic agents for early detection of diseases and improves existing radiopharmaceuticals for imaging and therapy protocols. Early detection is the key to patient survival because it guides treatment decisions and enables better targeting, assessment, and monitoring. The technology can potentially change the standard of care in the diagnosis and evaluation of many conditions and diseases, and moreover can provide access to more advanced clinical care in geographically dispersed regions. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will focus on developing 18F-labeled radiotracers for the detection of prostate cancer, neuroendocrine tumors, and type 2 diabetes. The current chemical technologies use radionuclides that either are not compatible with commercial radiopharmacies, which causes higher cost in production process and limited accessibility by patients, or have concerning safety issues (e.g. cell damage from long radioactive exposure). 18F is the ideal radioisotope with many technical, commercial, and imaging qualities for PET imaging, but it has a challenging chemistry for production of new products. This technology overcomes the traditional chemistry challenges and allows for the preparation of 18F-labeled radiotracers as bioconjugation kits.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.