Projects & Programs
Medical Isotopes at PNNL
Innovative. Experienced. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory provides private industry and government clients with innovative solutions to their radioisotope separation and purification needs. Together with top-of-the-line advanced biology, computational chemistry, and spectrometry research capabilities, PNNL also helps pharmaceutical companies and medical research centers develop new drugs, medical devices, and delivery systems.
Cutting-Edge Radiochemical Separations
To provide high-quality, ultrapure radioisotopes, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory uses state-of-the-art separation technologies. When the state of the art does not meet the clients' needs, PNNL develops new ways to separate the needed isotopes.
Our depth of experience and desire to enable the commercial success of innovative new products makes PNNL a preferred research and development partner. For example, PNNL developed an efficient method for preparing ultrapure yttrium-90 from strontium-90. PNNL quickly became the world's major supplier of yttrium-90. In 1999, our yttrium-90 production technology was transferred to NEN Life Science Products (PerkinElmer), where sales continue to increase. This effort won a Federal Laboratory Consortium Award for Excellence in Technology Transfer. We have continued to develop new separations technologies for yttrium-90 and other radionuclides for innovative new drug products.
PNNL prepares high-purity actinium-225, bismuth-213, bismuth-212, and radium-223 for medical applications. We were selected by the U.S. Department of Energy as a research partner with Isotek Systems and Theragenics for recovery of thorium-229 from uranium-233 stockpiles and preparation of ultrapure actinium-225 and bismuth-213.
New Drugs, Medical Devices, and Delivery Systems
Bringing together advances in nuclear physics, radiochemical sciences, and advanced biological sciences, PNNL helps clients design and test drugs, medical devices, and delivery systems. Recent projects include
- Radiogels and fibrin composites for applications in cancer treatment
- High-dose radionuclide labeling of cell-directed proteins
- Novel concepts for diagnostic imaging and radioisotopes for more effective cancer treatment
- Advanced strontium-90 capillaries for restenosis stents
- Next-generation cesium-131 brachytherapy seeds for treating certain cancers.
Novel Isotope Production Methods
Producing valuable radioisotopes can be an expensive proposition for many smaller pharmaceutical and medical companies. To make radionuclides affordable, PNNL is developing novel ways of producing isotopes including low-cost, bench-scale methods. In addition, PNNL is investigating new approaches for producing positron-emitting radioisotopes, used in positron emission tomography to evaluate neurological, cardiac, and metabolic disorders.