Radionuclide Separation

Nuclear pharmacy, (also known as radiopharmacy), involves the preparation of radioactive compounds used to either diagnose or treat specific diseases such as cancer. Diagnostic applications require radioisotopes with short half-lives, whereas for treatment, radioisotopes with longer half-lives are typically used.

Production generally involves combining a chelating agent and a radionuclide tracer with a pharmaceutical component (e.g. an antibody or a peptide). Once injected into the patient, the radiopharmaceutical finds its way to the tumour through the bloodstream and binds to the tumour-specific receptor. To destroy the tumour, minimal cytotoxic doses of ionizing radiation have to be submitted to the tumour site before the radioisotope decays. Highly precise localization of the cytotoxic site ensures that healthy tissue surrounding the tumour is minimally affected.

The Use of Chromatographic Separation Resins

Chromalite™ resins can be efficiently applied for the separation of radionuclides for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes. Typical examples are Zr-89, Cu-64, Ga-68, Ge-68, Lu-177, Cu-67 or Sn-117m separation. Starting from a parent isotope with usually a long half-life (as an example Ge-68 has a half-life of 271 days) and through a generator, a much shorter half-life isotope is generated (Ga-68 has a half-life of only 57 minutes, optimal for medical purposes).

The two isotopes are separated and isolated by a chromatography column. A chromatographic resin used for radionuclide separation needs to be mechanically strong to provide extremely high separation to be stable to radiations and comply to all regulatory requirements for the application.

Chromalite Products

Chromalite CGC and CGA are ideal for the separation of radionuclides as they demonstrate high mechanical stability even under radiation. Chromalite PCG resins are another option for applications in radionuclide separations. After solvent-impregnaion, these resins can be used for specific organic molecule extraction. The key to success in this application is the high surface area and controlled porosity, allowing uniform solvent impregnation.

Chromalite resins are manufactured to high degree of purity and very low levels of leachable, in full compliance with Resap (2004)3 and FDA, and manufactured in ISO-accredited, FDA-inspected facilities. For technical sales support, and to ensure optimal product selection contact a Purolite specialist today.