CPAN Workshop on Technology Transfer

PET radiopharmaceutical production - Collaboration IBA Molecular Spain and Centro Nacional de Aceleradores

24 Jun 2013, 12:45

15m

Centro Nacional de Aceleradores (CNA)

Description

Molecular Imaging techniques have had an important development in recent years. Nuclear Medicine is the second imaging technique after CT, with more than 35 million procedures per year all around the world. The Positron Emission Tomography (PET) has contributed in a crucial way to the Nuclear Medicine growth. In recent years the obtaining of fusion images has been improved using PET-CT hybrid systems that combine the metabolic information of PET image and the morphologic one of CT images in a single study. The 18F-Fludesoxiglucose (FDG) has been the most widely-used radiopharmaceutical so far, although some new radiopharmaceuticals are arising, being more specific for some pathologies. These will allow an earlier and more accurate diagnosis, as well as they will enable the evaluation of the treatment response. The number of PET examinations will double in the next 10 years, with a significant impact of the new radiopharmaceuticals on Alzheimer's diagnosis. Most of the new tracers will be proprietary products, with a limited suppliers number. The PET radiopharmaceuticals production requires high investments and facilities with the corresponding radioprotection authorizations, as well as being in compliance with GMPs regulations. Their shelf-life makes it necessary that their production be carried out in facilities located in the vicinity of their users. IBA Molecular Spain (IBA) is the Spanish subsidiary of IBA Molecular, a multinational company dedicated to the development, production and distribution of both PET and SPECT radiopharmaceuticals for their use in Nuclear Medicine. It is the leading company in Spain in the supply of these medicinal products. The Centro Nacional de Aceleradores (CNA) is a scientific-technical facility dedicated to the interdisciplinary research and it has a cyclotron that provides 18 MeV protons and 9 MeV deuterons. In 2003 IBA and CNA signed a contract that allows the production of several PET radiopharmaceuticals, as well as the research and development of new ones in their facilities.