2026/04/01 by Santiago Andrés Brühlmann, Florian Brandt, Martin Walther +4 · 1 voice
Medicine · Physics and Astronomy · #Radiopharmaceutical Chemistry and Applications #X-ray Spectroscopy and Fluorescence Analysis #Nuclear physics research studies
paper · doi:10.1016/j.apradiso.2026.112607
openalex publication_date 2026/04/01 · openalex created_date 2026/04/02 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/19
Gallium-67 remains a relevant radionuclide for single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and radiopharmaceutical development as a longer-lived 68 Ga surrogate. In this work, the use of gold and gold-coated aluminum backings was evaluated for the cyclotron-based production of this radionuclide via the 68 Zn(p,2n) 67 Ga nuclear reaction. Using such targets, activities of 2.1–2.6 GBq were achieved for irradiation times of 120–150 min at end of proton bombardment, corresponding to saturation yields of 2900–3800 MBq/μA. A radiochemical separation based on two chromatographic resins, combined with an anion-exchange step, was evaluated to recover over 70 % of the [ 67 Ga]GaCl 3 in 0.5 mL. Radionuclidic purity exceeded 98 % at end of purification and increased with time due to the decay of the shorter-lived 66 Ga. Trace metal analysis and test radiolabelling with NOTA confirmed apparent molar activities between 13 and 70 GBq/μmol, depending on the purification scheme. The suitability of the produced [ 67 Ga]GaCl 3 for radiopharmaceutical applications was further validated by the successful synthesis of six 67 Ga-labelled radioligands, namely [ 67 Ga]Ga-PSMA-11, [ 67 Ga]Ga-PSMA-I&T, [ 67 Ga]Ga-FAPI-46, [ 67 Ga]Ga-FAP-2286, [ 67 Ga]Ga-DOTA-TATE, and [ 67 Ga]Ga-DPI-4452. Gold-coated aluminum backings demonstrated good irradiation stability, although further optimization is required to improve reusability.