Production of the next‐generation positron nuclide zirconium‐89 (89Zr) guided by Monte Carlo simulation and its good quality for antibody labeling

The next‐generation positron zirconium‐89 (89Zr, T1/2 = 3.27 days) is a novel nuclide for immunological positron emission tomography because of its favorite longer half‐life. The aim of this work is to develop optimized methods for routine production and purification of 89Zr through Monte Carlo (MC) simulation and laboratory experiments. 89Y(p,n)89Zr reaction was used for 89Zr production. Optimized thicknesses of Al degrader (0.11 cm) and 89Y foil (0.064 cm) were simulated through MC method. 89Zr (15.0–40.7 mCi) with an average production rate of 0.92 ± 0.12 mCi/μA·h was produced after 1‐ to 2‐h bombardment at the proton beam energy of 20 MeV and current of 20 μA. High radio‐purity 89Zr (6.14–26.8 mCi) obtained eluted from hydroxamate resin using 1‐mol/L oxalic acid solution, with the concentration of 2.7 × 104 mCi/L. The gamma spectrum showed that the characteristic peak of 89Zr was 511 and 909 keV, and no impurities were found. [89Zr]Zr‐DFO‐trastuzumab was successfully labeled and performed good radiochemical purity (>95%) and stability that showed potential application in tumor molecular imaging. 1) Higher purified radionuclide 89Zr was produced. 2) Irradiation parameters were optimized through Monte Carlo simulation. 3) Successfully labeling of [89Zr]Zr‐DFO‐trastuzumab probe with good quality.