A multi-user radiochemical synthesis facility for molecular imaging research
Lead Research Organisation:
KING'S COLLEGE LONDON
Department Name: Imaging and Biomedical Engineering
Abstract
Nuclear medicine is an established field of medicine with both diagnostic and therapeutic uses; in its diagnostic use, it involves administering radioactive drugs - radiopharmaceuticals - to patients, and then either imaging the distribution of the radiopharmaceuticals non-invasively with a scanner (e.g. a PET scanner for Positron Emission Tomography) to diagnose disease (for example, to discover the location of tumours), or to predict which treatments will be effective for an individual patient with a specific disease - a step towards personalised medicine. In its therapeutic use, the radiopharmaceutical emits radiation that is toxic to cancer cells and can kill them with minimal damage to healthy cells. Both diagnostic and therapeutic medicine are on the threshold of implementing ground-breaking innovations clinically, for patient benefit. Diagnostic capability will soon take a leap forward with the advent of Total Body PET, which will allow faster scanning with much lower radiation doses and use of several tracers at once to better characterise disease. Therapeutic capability will also make great strides in the next few years as the introduction of new types of radionuclides - alpha and Auger electron emitters - into the clinic has the potential to transform radionuclide therapy from a palliative (symptom-relief) to a curative treatment.
To fully exploit these imminent breakthroughs, a new generation of radiopharmaceuticals is needed, driven by new radiochemistry research. Research in nuclear medicine is very much concerned with the development of new radiopharmaceuticals for new applications in different diseases. The production and synthesis of the radiopharmaceuticals requires specialised and costly facilities such as cyclotrons and robotic synthesis equipment. Research on new radiopharmaceuticals is largely conducted in the same facilities as routine production of radiopharmaceuticals for clinical use. Consequently it has to be fitted in between the routine daily productions which generally take priority, leaving little time and access for research and development. Increasingly, the drug regulatory bodies demand that research activity is excluded from the clinical production facilities in order to protect them from risk of contamination, further restricting the opportunity to use them for research and development.
The UK is home to a world-leading community of radiopharmaceutical science research groups developing new ideas for radiopharmaceuticals, but they face a severe bottleneck in developing their ideas and putting them to the test because of the above mentioned problems with access to radiochemistry facilities. King's College London is a major UK PET centre which has recently commissioned a new facility for clinical radiopharmaceutical production, leaving its old production laboratory vacant. In this project, we will convert this old laboratory, known as CARL, into a dedicated research radiochemistry laboratory for radiopharmaceutical development - something that does not exist in the UK - overcoming the restricted access to clinical production facilities and providing a unique facility that researchers from across the UK can use, either by visiting CARL directly or commissioning work to produce and supply research radionuclides and radiopharmaceuticals for use in external laboratories.
Research teams from across the UK, and internationally, will then be able to develop new radiopharmaceuticals for preclinical evaluation and potential subsequent clinical application in the diagnosis of a wide variety of high-impact diseases such as cancer, dementia, heart disease and infection; and for treating cancer.
To fully exploit these imminent breakthroughs, a new generation of radiopharmaceuticals is needed, driven by new radiochemistry research. Research in nuclear medicine is very much concerned with the development of new radiopharmaceuticals for new applications in different diseases. The production and synthesis of the radiopharmaceuticals requires specialised and costly facilities such as cyclotrons and robotic synthesis equipment. Research on new radiopharmaceuticals is largely conducted in the same facilities as routine production of radiopharmaceuticals for clinical use. Consequently it has to be fitted in between the routine daily productions which generally take priority, leaving little time and access for research and development. Increasingly, the drug regulatory bodies demand that research activity is excluded from the clinical production facilities in order to protect them from risk of contamination, further restricting the opportunity to use them for research and development.
The UK is home to a world-leading community of radiopharmaceutical science research groups developing new ideas for radiopharmaceuticals, but they face a severe bottleneck in developing their ideas and putting them to the test because of the above mentioned problems with access to radiochemistry facilities. King's College London is a major UK PET centre which has recently commissioned a new facility for clinical radiopharmaceutical production, leaving its old production laboratory vacant. In this project, we will convert this old laboratory, known as CARL, into a dedicated research radiochemistry laboratory for radiopharmaceutical development - something that does not exist in the UK - overcoming the restricted access to clinical production facilities and providing a unique facility that researchers from across the UK can use, either by visiting CARL directly or commissioning work to produce and supply research radionuclides and radiopharmaceuticals for use in external laboratories.
Research teams from across the UK, and internationally, will then be able to develop new radiopharmaceuticals for preclinical evaluation and potential subsequent clinical application in the diagnosis of a wide variety of high-impact diseases such as cancer, dementia, heart disease and infection; and for treating cancer.
Organisations
- KING'S COLLEGE LONDON (Collaboration, Lead Research Organisation)
- Aptamer Group (Collaboration)
- McMaster University (Collaboration)
- Apollo Therapeutics (Collaboration)
- NTX Research (Collaboration)
- UNIVERSITY OF YORK (Collaboration)
- UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM (Collaboration)
- GE HEALTHCARE LIMITED (Collaboration)
- Tokyo Institute of Technology (Collaboration)
- Siemens Healthcare (Collaboration)
- GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) (Collaboration)
Publications
Farooq R
(2025)
Compact and cGMP-compliant automated synthesis of [18F]FSPG on the Trasis AllinOneâ„¢.
in EJNMMI radiopharmacy and chemistry
Feng M
(2024)
Pyridine-based strategies towards nitrogen isotope exchange and multiple isotope incorporation.
in Nature communications
Fontana IC
(2023)
Correction to "A Medicinal Chemistry Perspective on Excitatory Amino Acid Transporter 2 Dysfunction in Neurodegenerative Diseases".
in Journal of medicinal chemistry
Nielsen Karin Michaelsen
(2023)
Implementation and optimisation of scandium-44 and manganese-52 production at King's College London for preclinical research
in NUCLEAR MEDICINE AND BIOLOGY
Shegani A
(2023)
Radiosynthesis, Preclinical, and Clinical Positron Emission Tomography Studies of Carbon-11 Labeled Endogenous and Natural Exogenous Compounds.
in Chemical reviews
| Description | New radionuclides Previously (2023): 18F, 11C, 52Mn Since 2024, we have expanded to: 131I, 212Pb, 64Cu, 67Cu, 124I, At-211 Groups directly working in CARL Witney Terry Stasiuk Archibald Gee New implementation/capabilities Hot cell 8 has been brought up to full functionality with work from the CARL team. With hot cell 8 fully functional, we are now able to facilitate alpha radionuclide work safely in CARL. The Stasiuk and Terry groups from ICAB have benefitted from being able to do Pb-212 work in CARL - in October 2024 we housed the first Pb-212 generator in the department. We have also been able to commence work on At-211 production using this hot cell - this is part of the MRIP projects (see more detail later in this document) Hot cell 7 has been brought up to full functionality with work from the CARL team. With hot cell 7 fully functional, we are now able to iodine-124 production radionuclide work safely in CARL. - this is part of the MRIP projects (see more detail later in this document) Sam Terry group Benefitted from Pb-212 generator and CARL facilities Oral presentation: The effectiveness of targeted lead-212 alpha therapy and EBRT in neuroendocrine spheroids Poster presentation: Calibration and optimisation of theragnostic pre-clinical imaging with lead isotopes More generally, access to Pb-212 has enabled investigation into the dose response relationship for cancer and healthy cells to Pb212. Work with cancer cells will be carried out as both 2D and 3D cultures as well as in in vivo cancer xenograft models for neuroendocrine cancer. Graeme Stasiuk group Used the Pb-212 generator - more details tbc And received radiometal supply - more details tbc Tim Witney group Users: Muhammet Tanc, Rizwan Farooq and Richard Edwards Apollo Collaboration - Small Molecule Theranostics Project Working in CARL has allowed this project to move from proof of concept to full evaluation of multiple diagnostic and therapeutic analogues. Preclinical studies demonstrated diagnosis of biomarker high tumours was achievable and importantly could be followed by successful intervention of the targeted therapeutic. These results led Apollo to invest significantly to expand the project (> £1,000,000). The collaboration has resulted in one patent being filed with at least two more to follow. The success of this project has strengthened the collaboration and will lead to further investment into the department. Clinical Translation of [18F]FSPG The use of the Trasis AIO in CARL allowed for the development of a robust automated synthesis of [18F]FSPG, now published in EJNMMI Radiopharmacy and Chemistry (https://doi.org/10.1186/s41181-024-00322-7). Furthermore, the lead radiochemist has presented this work at WMIC 2024 (A Compact and GMP-Compliant Automated Synthesis of [18F]FSPG on the Trasis AIlinOne: poster + pitch) and will again present at EMIM 2025 (poster + pitch). Importantly the development of this automated process in CARL allowed for a rapid transfer to the GMP facility in PERL. The synthesis developed is now supporting a clinical trial: Assessing Cancer Treatment Response to Therapy Using 18F-FSPG PET (NCT05889312). Nuclide Therapeutics (NTx) (spin-out) The use of CARL for the generation of high amounts of NTx's lead compound (NTx-11) was critical for performing the required preclinical efficacy study. The data generated was central to NTx successfully raising funds for the clinical translation of NTx-11 and the expansion of their pipeline. Beyond facilitating these key experiments, access to CARL for future work gave investors confidence that NTx had the necessary state of the art facilities to perform leading research in a highly regulated research field. Radiometal production supply We have been supplying the following users with radiometals (64Cu/52Mn), in collaboration with Birmingham MC40 facility: • Richard Southworth (ICAB) • Michelle Ma (ICAB) • Graeme Stasiuk (ICAB) • Stephen Archibald (ICAB) • Cinzia Imberti (ICAB) • Rafa Torres (ICAB)/ Nick Long (Imperial) + his collaborators in Hong Kong Polytechnic University Individual user achievements, enabled by the radiometals from the CARL facility George Firth (PI: Cinzia Imberti) Presentations • 9th International Symposium of Metallomics (ISM9) - SLC30A10 deficiency - manganese dyshomeostasis visualised in mice, (London, UK), best oral presentation award • Invited talk at the Department of Chemistry, KCL - Imaging Metal Biology Across Scales in Health and Disease • Invited talk at the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) Trace Elements in Biology and Medicine - PET Imaging - an Emerging Tool for Whole Body Metal Imaging in Health and Disease (Florida, US) • Invited talk at the final Mithras symposium - Adventures in Metallomics: Radionuclide and Mass Spec Imaging to Understand Metal Biology (London, UK) • Public Engagement Poster at the Mithras and Red-Ox KCL outreach event - Whole-body Imaging - making invisible metals visible (Coin Street, London, UK) • Public Engagement Talk at the Twilight Gardening outreach event - Using whole body imaging to track where metals go in the body and how this goes wrong in disease (London, UK) • Poster at Copper 2024 conference - Radioactive 64Cu as a tool for copper speciation and distribution in vivo (Sorrento, Italy) Papers in preparation • Manganese trafficking visualised in an SLC30A10 deficient mouse: from tissue heterogeneity to in vivo kinetics of manganese handling New collaborations/grants We have been able to establish new collaborations and receive funding that utilise radionuclides produced from CARL in exciting novel ways: • Clinical production of manganese-52 for mechanistic studies in humans using Total-Body PET, Dr Cinzia Imberti (PI), Dr George Firth, Dr Zilin Yu, Prof Phil Blower and Dr Julia Blower (coI), MRC impact accelerator proof of concept award, £80k • Radionuclide imaging to study the immunological effects of copper depletion in high-risk neuroblastoma. Dr Cinzia Imberti PI in collaboration with Dr Peter Gawne (UCL) and Dr Jane Sosabowski (QMUL), CRUK £25k • Radionuclide imaging of copper depletion in breast cancer models. Prof Vivek Mitall and Dr Cinzia Imberti (PI), Dr George Firth (coI), Cornell-King's Global Strategic Collaboration award, £10k Cinzia Imberti (in addition to George's list above) • 9th International Symposium of Metallomics (ISM9), keynote talk: Imaging Metallomics Picturing Metal Behaviour in Cancer (and Beyond) • 30th International Isotope Society UK Group Symposium, invited talk: Metallodrugs in the hot seat Accelerating preclinical development with radionuclide imaging • BASL special interest group meeting, invited talk:Total-body PET for Wilson's Disease Rafa Torres/ Nick Long/ Hong Kong The work is currently being written up and should result in two papers in the coming months. One focussed on 68Ga labelling of chiral macrocycles (in collaboration with researchers at PolyU, Hong Kong) and the second paper on 52Mn labelling of the same ligands with the same collaborators. Other tracer supply We have established stronger links with the Crick and have supplied 11C-methionine (this was produced in PERL). As an extension of this, they have asked if we can supply 18F-DOPA. This led to a £21k contract agreement for CARL to produce 18F-DOPA and supply to the Crick. MRIP projects Medical Radionuclide Innovation Programme (MRIP) MRIP10 Development of UK Iodine-124 Production Capability Funder Department for Energy Security and Net Zero - £0.46M KCL project Nov 2023- March 2025 CARL facilities were used for: - Design, build and testing of an automated processing rig for I-124 purification. - Production of Te-124 targets - Processing of irradiated targets - Analysis using Gamma Spec and ICP-OES Medical Radionuclide Innovation Programme (MRIP) MRIP13 Development of UK Astatine-2111 Production Capability Funder Department for Energy Security and Net Zero - £0.5M QMUL project Nov 2023- March 2025 CARL facilities were used for: - Design, build and testing of an automated processing rig for At-211 purification. - Receiving and processing of irradiated targets - Analysis using Gamma Spec and ICP-OES Medial Radionuclide Innovation Programme (MRIP) MRIP004 Development of UK Supply Chain for Copper Medical Isotopes Funder Department for Energy Security and Net Zero Urenco Ltd Project Nov 2023 - March 2025 CARL facilities were used for: - Electroplating Ni-64 targets - Receiving and processing of irradiated targets from UoB and PERL - Analysis using Gamma Spec and ICP-OES Workshops/training Visit from UK National Nuclear Laboratory (Feb 24th-26th 2025) probably after the submission period but may as well put it in as we don't have much else in this category - there will be more next year. The Visit comprised of the following activities: • Tours of relevant facilities including CARL, PERL, ICAB; • Demonstration and shadowing of activities and equipment, including, but not limited to the PETtrace Solid Target System in the PERL facility, manual radiometal separation/purification techniques, hot cell manipulators, automated synthesis equipment and radioanalytical equipment; • Training opportunities on the PETtrace Solid Target system, hot cell manipulators, automated synthesis equipment and radioanalytical equipment; • Meetings/ networking with various member of the CARL, PERL, ICAB teams. 3 day visit, £3500. |
| Exploitation Route | New radionuclides Previously (2023): 18F, 11C, 52Mn Since 2024, we have expanded to: 131I, 212Pb, 64Cu, 67Cu, 124I, At-211 Groups directly working in CARL Witney Terry Stasiuk Archibald Gee New implementation/capabilities Hot cell 8 has been brought up to full functionality with work from the CARL team. With hot cell 8 fully functional, we are now able to facilitate alpha radionuclide work safely in CARL. The Stasiuk and Terry groups from ICAB have benefitted from being able to do Pb-212 work in CARL - in October 2024 we housed the first Pb-212 generator in the department. We have also been able to commence work on At-211 production using this hot cell - this is part of the MRIP projects (see more detail later in this document) Hot cell 7 has been brought up to full functionality with work from the CARL team. With hot cell 7 fully functional, we are now able to iodine-124 production radionuclide work safely in CARL. - this is part of the MRIP projects (see more detail later in this document) Sam Terry group Benefitted from Pb-212 generator and CARL facilities Oral presentation: The effectiveness of targeted lead-212 alpha therapy and EBRT in neuroendocrine spheroids Poster presentation: Calibration and optimisation of theragnostic pre-clinical imaging with lead isotopes More generally, access to Pb-212 has enabled investigation into the dose response relationship for cancer and healthy cells to Pb212. Work with cancer cells will be carried out as both 2D and 3D cultures as well as in in vivo cancer xenograft models for neuroendocrine cancer. Graeme Stasiuk group Used the Pb-212 generator - more details tbc And received radiometal supply - more details tbc Tim Witney group Users: Muhammet Tanc, Rizwan Farooq and Richard Edwards Apollo Collaboration - Small Molecule Theranostics Project Working in CARL has allowed this project to move from proof of concept to full evaluation of multiple diagnostic and therapeutic analogues. Preclinical studies demonstrated diagnosis of biomarker high tumours was achievable and importantly could be followed by successful intervention of the targeted therapeutic. These results led Apollo to invest significantly to expand the project (> £1,000,000). The collaboration has resulted in one patent being filed with at least two more to follow. The success of this project has strengthened the collaboration and will lead to further investment into the department. Clinical Translation of [18F]FSPG The use of the Trasis AIO in CARL allowed for the development of a robust automated synthesis of [18F]FSPG, now published in EJNMMI Radiopharmacy and Chemistry (https://doi.org/10.1186/s41181-024-00322-7). Furthermore, the lead radiochemist has presented this work at WMIC 2024 (A Compact and GMP-Compliant Automated Synthesis of [18F]FSPG on the Trasis AIlinOne: poster + pitch) and will again present at EMIM 2025 (poster + pitch). Importantly the development of this automated process in CARL allowed for a rapid transfer to the GMP facility in PERL. The synthesis developed is now supporting a clinical trial: Assessing Cancer Treatment Response to Therapy Using 18F-FSPG PET (NCT05889312). Nuclide Therapeutics (NTx) (spin-out) The use of CARL for the generation of high amounts of NTx's lead compound (NTx-11) was critical for performing the required preclinical efficacy study. The data generated was central to NTx successfully raising funds for the clinical translation of NTx-11 and the expansion of their pipeline. Beyond facilitating these key experiments, access to CARL for future work gave investors confidence that NTx had the necessary state of the art facilities to perform leading research in a highly regulated research field. Radiometal production supply We have been supplying the following users with radiometals (64Cu/52Mn), in collaboration with Birmingham MC40 facility: • Richard Southworth (ICAB) • Michelle Ma (ICAB) • Graeme Stasiuk (ICAB) • Stephen Archibald (ICAB) • Cinzia Imberti (ICAB) • Rafa Torres (ICAB)/ Nick Long (Imperial) + his collaborators in Hong Kong Polytechnic University Individual user achievements, enabled by the radiometals from the CARL facility George Firth (PI: Cinzia Imberti) Presentations • 9th International Symposium of Metallomics (ISM9) - SLC30A10 deficiency - manganese dyshomeostasis visualised in mice, (London, UK), best oral presentation award • Invited talk at the Department of Chemistry, KCL - Imaging Metal Biology Across Scales in Health and Disease • Invited talk at the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) Trace Elements in Biology and Medicine - PET Imaging - an Emerging Tool for Whole Body Metal Imaging in Health and Disease (Florida, US) • Invited talk at the final Mithras symposium - Adventures in Metallomics: Radionuclide and Mass Spec Imaging to Understand Metal Biology (London, UK) • Public Engagement Poster at the Mithras and Red-Ox KCL outreach event - Whole-body Imaging - making invisible metals visible (Coin Street, London, UK) • Public Engagement Talk at the Twilight Gardening outreach event - Using whole body imaging to track where metals go in the body and how this goes wrong in disease (London, UK) • Poster at Copper 2024 conference - Radioactive 64Cu as a tool for copper speciation and distribution in vivo (Sorrento, Italy) Papers in preparation • Manganese trafficking visualised in an SLC30A10 deficient mouse: from tissue heterogeneity to in vivo kinetics of manganese handling New collaborations/grants We have been able to establish new collaborations and receive funding that utilise radionuclides produced from CARL in exciting novel ways: • Clinical production of manganese-52 for mechanistic studies in humans using Total-Body PET, Dr Cinzia Imberti (PI), Dr George Firth, Dr Zilin Yu, Prof Phil Blower and Dr Julia Blower (coI), MRC impact accelerator proof of concept award, £80k • Radionuclide imaging to study the immunological effects of copper depletion in high-risk neuroblastoma. Dr Cinzia Imberti PI in collaboration with Dr Peter Gawne (UCL) and Dr Jane Sosabowski (QMUL), CRUK £25k • Radionuclide imaging of copper depletion in breast cancer models. Prof Vivek Mitall and Dr Cinzia Imberti (PI), Dr George Firth (coI), Cornell-King's Global Strategic Collaboration award, £10k Cinzia Imberti (in addition to George's list above) • 9th International Symposium of Metallomics (ISM9), keynote talk: Imaging Metallomics Picturing Metal Behaviour in Cancer (and Beyond) • 30th International Isotope Society UK Group Symposium, invited talk: Metallodrugs in the hot seat Accelerating preclinical development with radionuclide imaging • BASL special interest group meeting, invited talk:Total-body PET for Wilson's Disease Rafa Torres/ Nick Long/ Hong Kong The work is currently being written up and should result in two papers in the coming months. One focussed on 68Ga labelling of chiral macrocycles (in collaboration with researchers at PolyU, Hong Kong) and the second paper on 52Mn labelling of the same ligands with the same collaborators. Other tracer supply We have established stronger links with the Crick and have supplied 11C-methionine (this was produced in PERL). As an extension of this, they have asked if we can supply 18F-DOPA. This led to a £21k contract agreement for CARL to produce 18F-DOPA and supply to the Crick. MRIP projects Medical Radionuclide Innovation Programme (MRIP) MRIP10 Development of UK Iodine-124 Production Capability Funder Department for Energy Security and Net Zero - £0.46M KCL project Nov 2023- March 2025 CARL facilities were used for: - Design, build and testing of an automated processing rig for I-124 purification. - Production of Te-124 targets - Processing of irradiated targets - Analysis using Gamma Spec and ICP-OES Medical Radionuclide Innovation Programme (MRIP) MRIP13 Development of UK Astatine-2111 Production Capability Funder Department for Energy Security and Net Zero - £0.5M QMUL project Nov 2023- March 2025 CARL facilities were used for: - Design, build and testing of an automated processing rig for At-211 purification. - Receiving and processing of irradiated targets - Analysis using Gamma Spec and ICP-OES Medial Radionuclide Innovation Programme (MRIP) MRIP004 Development of UK Supply Chain for Copper Medical Isotopes Funder Department for Energy Security and Net Zero Urenco Ltd Project Nov 2023 - March 2025 CARL facilities were used for: - Electroplating Ni-64 targets - Receiving and processing of irradiated targets from UoB and PERL - Analysis using Gamma Spec and ICP-OES Workshops/training Visit from UK National Nuclear Laboratory (Feb 24th-26th 2025) probably after the submission period but may as well put it in as we don't have much else in this category - there will be more next year. The Visit comprised of the following activities: • Tours of relevant facilities including CARL, PERL, ICAB; • Demonstration and shadowing of activities and equipment, including, but not limited to the PETtrace Solid Target System in the PERL facility, manual radiometal separation/purification techniques, hot cell manipulators, automated synthesis equipment and radioanalytical equipment; • Training opportunities on the PETtrace Solid Target system, hot cell manipulators, automated synthesis equipment and radioanalytical equipment; • Meetings/ networking with various member of the CARL, PERL, ICAB teams. 3 day visit, £3500. |
| Sectors | Chemicals Education Healthcare Manufacturing including Industrial Biotechology Pharmaceuticals and Medical Biotechnology |
| Description | New radionuclides Previously (2023): 18F, 11C, 52Mn Since 2024, we have expanded to: 131I, 212Pb, 64Cu, 67Cu, 124I, At-211 Groups directly working in CARL Witney Terry Stasiuk Archibald Gee New implementation/capabilities Hot cell 8 has been brought up to full functionality with work from the CARL team. With hot cell 8 fully functional, we are now able to facilitate alpha radionuclide work safely in CARL. The Stasiuk and Terry groups from ICAB have benefitted from being able to do Pb-212 work in CARL - in October 2024 we housed the first Pb-212 generator in the department. We have also been able to commence work on At-211 production using this hot cell - this is part of the MRIP projects (see more detail later in this document) Hot cell 7 has been brought up to full functionality with work from the CARL team. With hot cell 7 fully functional, we are now able to iodine-124 production radionuclide work safely in CARL. - this is part of the MRIP projects (see more detail later in this document) Sam Terry group Benefitted from Pb-212 generator and CARL facilities Oral presentation: The effectiveness of targeted lead-212 alpha therapy and EBRT in neuroendocrine spheroids Poster presentation: Calibration and optimisation of theragnostic pre-clinical imaging with lead isotopes More generally, access to Pb-212 has enabled investigation into the dose response relationship for cancer and healthy cells to Pb212. Work with cancer cells will be carried out as both 2D and 3D cultures as well as in in vivo cancer xenograft models for neuroendocrine cancer. Graeme Stasiuk group Used the Pb-212 generator - more details tbc And received radiometal supply - more details tbc Tim Witney group Users: Muhammet Tanc, Rizwan Farooq and Richard Edwards Apollo Collaboration - Small Molecule Theranostics Project Working in CARL has allowed this project to move from proof of concept to full evaluation of multiple diagnostic and therapeutic analogues. Preclinical studies demonstrated diagnosis of biomarker high tumours was achievable and importantly could be followed by successful intervention of the targeted therapeutic. These results led Apollo to invest significantly to expand the project (> £1,000,000). The collaboration has resulted in one patent being filed with at least two more to follow. The success of this project has strengthened the collaboration and will lead to further investment into the department. Clinical Translation of [18F]FSPG The use of the Trasis AIO in CARL allowed for the development of a robust automated synthesis of [18F]FSPG, now published in EJNMMI Radiopharmacy and Chemistry (https://doi.org/10.1186/s41181-024-00322-7). Furthermore, the lead radiochemist has presented this work at WMIC 2024 (A Compact and GMP-Compliant Automated Synthesis of [18F]FSPG on the Trasis AIlinOne: poster + pitch) and will again present at EMIM 2025 (poster + pitch). Importantly the development of this automated process in CARL allowed for a rapid transfer to the GMP facility in PERL. The synthesis developed is now supporting a clinical trial: Assessing Cancer Treatment Response to Therapy Using 18F-FSPG PET (NCT05889312). Nuclide Therapeutics (NTx) (spin-out) The use of CARL for the generation of high amounts of NTx's lead compound (NTx-11) was critical for performing the required preclinical efficacy study. The data generated was central to NTx successfully raising funds for the clinical translation of NTx-11 and the expansion of their pipeline. Beyond facilitating these key experiments, access to CARL for future work gave investors confidence that NTx had the necessary state of the art facilities to perform leading research in a highly regulated research field. Radiometal production supply We have been supplying the following users with radiometals (64Cu/52Mn), in collaboration with Birmingham MC40 facility: • Richard Southworth (ICAB) • Michelle Ma (ICAB) • Graeme Stasiuk (ICAB) • Stephen Archibald (ICAB) • Cinzia Imberti (ICAB) • Rafa Torres (ICAB)/ Nick Long (Imperial) + his collaborators in Hong Kong Polytechnic University Individual user achievements, enabled by the radiometals from the CARL facility George Firth (PI: Cinzia Imberti) Presentations • 9th International Symposium of Metallomics (ISM9) - SLC30A10 deficiency - manganese dyshomeostasis visualised in mice, (London, UK), best oral presentation award • Invited talk at the Department of Chemistry, KCL - Imaging Metal Biology Across Scales in Health and Disease • Invited talk at the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) Trace Elements in Biology and Medicine - PET Imaging - an Emerging Tool for Whole Body Metal Imaging in Health and Disease (Florida, US) • Invited talk at the final Mithras symposium - Adventures in Metallomics: Radionuclide and Mass Spec Imaging to Understand Metal Biology (London, UK) • Public Engagement Poster at the Mithras and Red-Ox KCL outreach event - Whole-body Imaging - making invisible metals visible (Coin Street, London, UK) • Public Engagement Talk at the Twilight Gardening outreach event - Using whole body imaging to track where metals go in the body and how this goes wrong in disease (London, UK) • Poster at Copper 2024 conference - Radioactive 64Cu as a tool for copper speciation and distribution in vivo (Sorrento, Italy) Papers in preparation • Manganese trafficking visualised in an SLC30A10 deficient mouse: from tissue heterogeneity to in vivo kinetics of manganese handling New collaborations/grants We have been able to establish new collaborations and receive funding that utilise radionuclides produced from CARL in exciting novel ways: • Clinical production of manganese-52 for mechanistic studies in humans using Total-Body PET, Dr Cinzia Imberti (PI), Dr George Firth, Dr Zilin Yu, Prof Phil Blower and Dr Julia Blower (coI), MRC impact accelerator proof of concept award, £80k • Radionuclide imaging to study the immunological effects of copper depletion in high-risk neuroblastoma. Dr Cinzia Imberti PI in collaboration with Dr Peter Gawne (UCL) and Dr Jane Sosabowski (QMUL), CRUK £25k • Radionuclide imaging of copper depletion in breast cancer models. Prof Vivek Mitall and Dr Cinzia Imberti (PI), Dr George Firth (coI), Cornell-King's Global Strategic Collaboration award, £10k Cinzia Imberti (in addition to George's list above) • 9th International Symposium of Metallomics (ISM9), keynote talk: Imaging Metallomics Picturing Metal Behaviour in Cancer (and Beyond) • 30th International Isotope Society UK Group Symposium, invited talk: Metallodrugs in the hot seat Accelerating preclinical development with radionuclide imaging • BASL special interest group meeting, invited talk:Total-body PET for Wilson's Disease Rafa Torres/ Nick Long/ Hong Kong The work is currently being written up and should result in two papers in the coming months. One focussed on 68Ga labelling of chiral macrocycles (in collaboration with researchers at PolyU, Hong Kong) and the second paper on 52Mn labelling of the same ligands with the same collaborators. Other tracer supply We have established stronger links with the Crick and have supplied 11C-methionine (this was produced in PERL). As an extension of this, they have asked if we can supply 18F-DOPA. This led to a £21k contract agreement for CARL to produce 18F-DOPA and supply to the Crick. MRIP projects Medical Radionuclide Innovation Programme (MRIP) MRIP10 Development of UK Iodine-124 Production Capability Funder Department for Energy Security and Net Zero - £0.46M KCL project Nov 2023- March 2025 CARL facilities were used for: - Design, build and testing of an automated processing rig for I-124 purification. - Production of Te-124 targets - Processing of irradiated targets - Analysis using Gamma Spec and ICP-OES Medical Radionuclide Innovation Programme (MRIP) MRIP13 Development of UK Astatine-2111 Production Capability Funder Department for Energy Security and Net Zero - £0.5M QMUL project Nov 2023- March 2025 CARL facilities were used for: - Design, build and testing of an automated processing rig for At-211 purification. - Receiving and processing of irradiated targets - Analysis using Gamma Spec and ICP-OES Medial Radionuclide Innovation Programme (MRIP) MRIP004 Development of UK Supply Chain for Copper Medical Isotopes Funder Department for Energy Security and Net Zero Urenco Ltd Project Nov 2023 - March 2025 CARL facilities were used for: - Electroplating Ni-64 targets - Receiving and processing of irradiated targets from UoB and PERL - Analysis using Gamma Spec and ICP-OES Workshops/training Visit from UK National Nuclear Laboratory (Feb 24th-26th 2025) probably after the submission period but may as well put it in as we don't have much else in this category - there will be more next year. The Visit comprised of the following activities: • Tours of relevant facilities including CARL, PERL, ICAB; • Demonstration and shadowing of activities and equipment, including, but not limited to the PETtrace Solid Target System in the PERL facility, manual radiometal separation/purification techniques, hot cell manipulators, automated synthesis equipment and radioanalytical equipment; • Training opportunities on the PETtrace Solid Target system, hot cell manipulators, automated synthesis equipment and radioanalytical equipment; • Meetings/ networking with various member of the CARL, PERL, ICAB teams. 3 day visit, £3500. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2024 |
| Sector | Chemicals,Education,Healthcare,Manufacturing, including Industrial Biotechology,Pharmaceuticals and Medical Biotechnology |
| Impact Types | Societal Economic |
| Description | Internship in radionuclide production |
| Geographic Reach | Europe |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Impact | The internship strengthened structured training in radiochemistry by providing exposure to both preclinical and GMP-compliant radionuclide production environments, improving practical skills in production, quality control, automation, and regulatory documentation. The trainee demonstrated increased competence and confidence in specialist techniques and has since progressed to applying for PhD positions in the field, indicating continued career development within nuclear medicine and radiochemistry. The placement has also informed internal training practice by reinforcing the value of integrated hands-on training across production, QC, and regulatory workflows. |
| Description | Placements for Nuclear Medicine STPs |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Impact | Feedback demonstrated increased understanding and strong engagement. Participants highlighted "gaining an understanding of how cyclotrons work and how they are used to create radiopharmaceuticals" and valued "seeing the manufacture of radiopharmaceuticals very different to the work done within our radiopharmacy unit." Exposure to research activities, including "the extraction of iodine-124 from an irradiated target," and specialist techniques such as HPLC, GC and gamma spectrometry, was also identified as particularly beneficial. These placements enhanced trainee knowledge and skills, supporting professional development and contributing to improved understanding of best practice in radiopharmaceutical production across the UK workforce. |
| Description | UK PET Chemistry workshop: HPLC Tip & Tricks |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Impact | The workshop improved practical skills and confidence in HPLC method development, maintenance, and troubleshooting among participants from multiple UK PET centres, supporting more robust and reliable radiochemistry workflows. Immediate feedback indicated high relevance and applicability to participants' roles. The activity also identified national training gaps and barriers through participant feedback and a wider survey of UK PET centres. These findings are being used to shape future training provision, ultimately benefiting research, radiopharmaceutical production and patient access to PET imaging. Feedback from the event: Feedback was received from 4 of 6 participants, and responses were very positive. • All respondents indicated they would attend similar workshops in the future • All participants found the hands-on training useful, rating it as very or extremely useful • The workshop was rated as good or excellent by all respondents Participants particularly valued the opportunity for hands-on learning and interaction with an experienced engineer. Comments included: "General tips and tricks from the expert, configuration of the HPLC modules, and the theory behind how they work were all useful." "Very useful workshop that helped broaden my understanding of both HPLC maintenance and troubleshooting and HPLC method development." "It was an amazing workshop, I will be very interested to attend similar workshops in future." Participants also expressed interest in further training in areas such as advanced method development, troubleshooting, and additional analytical techniques (e.g. GC and IC). |
| Description | Future-proofing radiochemistry infrastructure: additional hot cells in CARL |
| Amount | £220,824 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | Research Infrastructure Fund |
| Organisation | King's College London |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 01/2026 |
| Description | Medical Radionuclide Innovation Programme - production of iodine-124 |
| Amount | £459,386 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Government of the UK |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | |
| Description | New radiotracers to identify neuroblastoma in children |
| Amount | £268,301 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Nneuroblastoma UK |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | |
| Description | Peter Horlock workshop support award |
| Amount | £3,000 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | MRF-SF-HWSA-25-101 |
| Organisation | Medical Research Council (MRC) |
| Department | Medical Research Foundation |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 11/2025 |
| End | 04/2026 |
| Title | Expansion of radionuclide and radiotracer capability and production |
| Description | The CARL facility has significantly expanded its radionuclide production capabilities, establishing new tools and workflows to support research in non-standard PET radionuclides. This includes developmental production of radionuclides such as copper-64, manganese-52, iodine-124 and astatine-211. A collaborative production model has been implemented with the University of Birmingham, where solid targets prepared at CARL are irradiated using a higher-energy cyclotron and returned for downstream processing. The facility has developed and optimised purification methods to isolate target radionuclides, enabling their use in internal research programmes and, where appropriate, external collaborations. External supply of iodine-124 is planned from Q1 2026. The facility has also established preclinical production and internal supply of fluorine-18 F-DOPA, supporting research activities across the wider faculty. Methodological advances include the development of solid target systems and automated irradiation and purification workflows, including copper-64 production using PERL irradiation systems, manganese-52 purification methods, chromium target development for manganese-52 production, and copper-63 target development to enable zinc-63 production. These tools and methods provide new capability for radiometal and non-standard radionuclide research, supporting a growing pipeline of preclinical and translational studies. |
| Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
| Year Produced | 2025 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | The development of these radionuclide production and purification capabilities has enabled access to non-standard PET radionuclides that are not routinely available within the UK, supporting new preclinical and translational research opportunities. Internal research groups have been able to initiate studies that would otherwise be limited by radionuclide availability, while the emerging capability for external supply (e.g. iodine-124) is expected to broaden access across the UK research community. These capabilities are directly supporting disease-focused research, including a Neuroblastoma UK-funded project utilising iodine-124 towards the development of iodine-124 mIBG for childhood neuroblastoma imaging using total-body PET. The establishment of automated irradiation and purification workflows has improved reproducibility and efficiency of radionuclide production, supporting more reliable experimental outcomes. In addition, the development of solid target systems and novel purification methods contributes to advancing best practice in radiometal production, with potential to improve wider adoption across academic and clinical radiochemistry facilities. |
| Title | radionuclide production |
| Description | We have been supplying the following users with radiometals (64Cu/52Mn), in collaboration with Birmingham MC40 facility: • Richard Southworth (ICAB) • Michelle Ma (ICAB) • Graeme Stasiuk (ICAB) • Stephen Archibald (ICAB) • Cinzia Imberti (ICAB) • Rafa Torres (ICAB)/ Nick Long (Imperial) + his collaborators in Hong Kong Polytechnic University |
| Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
| Year Produced | 2024 |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | We have been supplying the following users with radiometals (64Cu/52Mn), in collaboration with Birmingham MC40 facility: • Richard Southworth (ICAB) • Michelle Ma (ICAB) • Graeme Stasiuk (ICAB) • Stephen Archibald (ICAB) • Cinzia Imberti (ICAB) • Rafa Torres (ICAB)/ Nick Long (Imperial) + his collaborators in Hong Kong Polytechnic University |
| Title | CCDC 2304028: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination |
| Description | Related Article: Minghao Feng, Maylis Norlöff, Benoit Guichard, Steven Kealey, Timothée D'Anfray, Pierre Thuéry, Frédéric Taran, Antony Gee, Sophie Feuillastre, Davide Audisio|2024|Nat.Commun.|15|6063|doi:10.1038/s41467-024-50139-w |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2024 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| URL | http://www.ccdc.cam.ac.uk/services/structure_request?id=doi:10.5517/ccdc.csd.cc2hbjhw&sid=DataCite |
| Description | GE KCL research Collaboration |
| Organisation | GE Healthcare Limited |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Hosting GE for collaborative research activities |
| Collaborator Contribution | Hosting GE at our laboratory facilities |
| Impact | .. |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | Graeme Stasiuk |
| Organisation | King's College London |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Used the Pb-212 generator - more details tbc And received radiometal supply - more details tbc |
| Collaborator Contribution | Used the Pb-212 generator - more details tbc And received radiometal supply - more details tbc |
| Impact | tbc |
| Start Year | 2024 |
| Description | McMaster University - Tc94m technology transfer |
| Organisation | McMaster University |
| Country | Canada |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | The CARL radiochemistry facility is providing infrastructure, equipment, and technical expertise required to implement and optimise this technology through a technology transfer process. This includes adaptation of production workflows, radiochemical processing, and quality control within the CARL environment, enabling translation of the method into routine use. The collaboration enables transfer of an established production methodology from McMaster University into a UK-based radiochemistry facility, supporting expansion of access to emerging radionuclides for research applications. |
| Collaborator Contribution | McMaster University contributed the development of the novel production method for technetium-94m, including the underlying radiochemistry approach and validated methodology required for isotope generation. They are leading the knowledge transfer process to enable implementation of this technology at partner sites. |
| Impact | By the end of 2026, King's will be able to produce radionuclide Tc-94m, a novel radionuclide of significant clinical interest in total body PET. |
| Start Year | 2025 |
| Description | Nuclide Therapeutics (NTx) (spin-out) |
| Organisation | NTX Research |
| Country | France |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | The use of CARL for the generation of high amounts of NTx's lead compound (NTx-11) was critical for performing the required preclinical efficacy study. The data generated was central to NTx successfully raising funds for the clinical translation of NTx-11 and the expansion of their pipeline. Beyond facilitating these key experiments, access to CARL for future work gave investors confidence that NTx had the necessary state of the art facilities to perform leading research in a highly regulated research field. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The use of CARL for the generation of high amounts of NTx's lead compound (NTx-11) was critical for performing the required preclinical efficacy study. The data generated was central to NTx successfully raising funds for the clinical translation of NTx-11 and the expansion of their pipeline. Beyond facilitating these key experiments, access to CARL for future work gave investors confidence that NTx had the necessary state of the art facilities to perform leading research in a highly regulated research field. |
| Impact | Nuclide Therapeutics (NTx) (spin-out) The use of CARL for the generation of high amounts of NTx's lead compound (NTx-11) was critical for performing the required preclinical efficacy study. The data generated was central to NTx successfully raising funds for the clinical translation of NTx-11 and the expansion of their pipeline. Beyond facilitating these key experiments, access to CARL for future work gave investors confidence that NTx had the necessary state of the art facilities to perform leading research in a highly regulated research field. |
| Start Year | 2024 |
| Description | Phantoms on TB-PET |
| Organisation | Siemens Healthcare |
| Department | Siemens Healthcare Ltd |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | The CARL radiochemistry facility provided access to specialist infrastructure, expertise, and radionuclide production capabilities to support the supply of iodine-124 for use in imaging studies. This included radiochemical production, purification, quality control, and delivery of iodine-124 suitable for phantom imaging experiments on total-body PET systems. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Siemens Healthineers contributed total-body PET expertise in PET system performance evaluation, including design and execution of phantom imaging studies. They also provided technical input on imaging protocols and analysis to assess system performance using iodine-124. The collaboration enabled evaluation of iodine-124 for use in advanced PET imaging systems, supporting methodological development and performance assessment of total-body PET technology. |
| Impact | on-going |
| Start Year | 2025 |
| Description | Radiochemistry development and preclinical evaluation of novel radiopharmaceuticals (Lu-177) |
| Organisation | Aptamer Group |
| Department | Aptamer Solutions |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | The CARL radiochemistry facility provided access to specialist infrastructure, equipment, and technical expertise required for the radiochemistry development and preclinical evaluation of lutetium-177 radiopharmaceuticals within a project led by PI Steve Archibald. This included support for radiolabelling, purification, and quality control within a controlled radiochemistry environment. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Aptamer Group contributed the novel targeting molecules and associated biological expertise, as well as guidance on target selection and therapeutic development. |
| Impact | on-going project |
| Start Year | 2025 |
| Description | Samantha Terry Group |
| Organisation | King's College London |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Sam Terry group Benefitted from Pb-212 generator and CARL facilities Oral presentation: The effectiveness of targeted lead-212 alpha therapy and EBRT in neuroendocrine spheroids Poster presentation: Calibration and optimisation of theragnostic pre-clinical imaging with lead isotopes More generally, access to Pb-212 has enabled investigation into the dose response relationship for cancer and healthy cells to Pb212. Work with cancer cells will be carried out as both 2D and 3D cultures as well as in in vivo cancer xenograft models for neuroendocrine cancer. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Sam Terry group Benefitted from Pb-212 generator and CARL facilities Oral presentation: The effectiveness of targeted lead-212 alpha therapy and EBRT in neuroendocrine spheroids Poster presentation: Calibration and optimisation of theragnostic pre-clinical imaging with lead isotopes More generally, access to Pb-212 has enabled investigation into the dose response relationship for cancer and healthy cells to Pb212. Work with cancer cells will be carried out as both 2D and 3D cultures as well as in in vivo cancer xenograft models for neuroendocrine cancer. |
| Impact | Oral presentation: The effectiveness of targeted lead-212 alpha therapy and EBRT in neuroendocrine spheroids Poster presentation: Calibration and optimisation of theragnostic pre-clinical imaging with lead isotopes More generally, access to Pb-212 has enabled investigation into the dose response relationship for cancer and healthy cells to Pb212. Work with cancer cells will be carried out as both 2D and 3D cultures as well as in in vivo cancer xenograft models for neuroendocrine cancer. |
| Start Year | 2024 |
| Description | Tim Whitney Group |
| Organisation | King's College London |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Tim Witney group Users: Muhammet Tanc, Rizwan Farooq and Richard Edwards Apollo Collaboration - Small Molecule Theranostics Project Working in CARL has allowed this project to move from proof of concept to full evaluation of multiple diagnostic and therapeutic analogues. Preclinical studies demonstrated diagnosis of biomarker high tumours was achievable and importantly could be followed by successful intervention of the targeted therapeutic. These results led Apollo to invest significantly to expand the project (> £1,000,000). The collaboration has resulted in one patent being filed with at least two more to follow. The success of this project has strengthened the collaboration and will lead to further investment into the department. Clinical Translation of [18F]FSPG The use of the Trasis AIO in CARL allowed for the development of a robust automated synthesis of [18F]FSPG, now published in EJNMMI Radiopharmacy and Chemistry (https://doi.org/10.1186/s41181-024-00322-7). Furthermore, the lead radiochemist has presented this work at WMIC 2024 (A Compact and GMP-Compliant Automated Synthesis of [18F]FSPG on the Trasis AIlinOne: poster + pitch) and will again present at EMIM 2025 (poster + pitch). Importantly the development of this automated process in CARL allowed for a rapid transfer to the GMP facility in PERL. The synthesis developed is now supporting a clinical trial: Assessing Cancer Treatment Response to Therapy Using 18F-FSPG PET (NCT05889312). |
| Collaborator Contribution | Tim Witney group Users: Muhammet Tanc, Rizwan Farooq and Richard Edwards Apollo Collaboration - Small Molecule Theranostics Project Working in CARL has allowed this project to move from proof of concept to full evaluation of multiple diagnostic and therapeutic analogues. Preclinical studies demonstrated diagnosis of biomarker high tumours was achievable and importantly could be followed by successful intervention of the targeted therapeutic. These results led Apollo to invest significantly to expand the project (> £1,000,000). The collaboration has resulted in one patent being filed with at least two more to follow. The success of this project has strengthened the collaboration and will lead to further investment into the department. Clinical Translation of [18F]FSPG The use of the Trasis AIO in CARL allowed for the development of a robust automated synthesis of [18F]FSPG, now published in EJNMMI Radiopharmacy and Chemistry (https://doi.org/10.1186/s41181-024-00322-7). Furthermore, the lead radiochemist has presented this work at WMIC 2024 (A Compact and GMP-Compliant Automated Synthesis of [18F]FSPG on the Trasis AIlinOne: poster + pitch) and will again present at EMIM 2025 (poster + pitch). Importantly the development of this automated process in CARL allowed for a rapid transfer to the GMP facility in PERL. The synthesis developed is now supporting a clinical trial: Assessing Cancer Treatment Response to Therapy Using 18F-FSPG PET (NCT05889312). |
| Impact | in progress |
| Start Year | 2024 |
| Description | University of Birmingham radionuclide supply |
| Organisation | University of Birmingham |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | We have been supplying the following users with radiometals (64Cu/52Mn), in collaboration with Birmingham MC40 facility: • Richard Southworth (ICAB) • Michelle Ma (ICAB) • Graeme Stasiuk (ICAB) • Stephen Archibald (ICAB) • Cinzia Imberti (ICAB) • Rafa Torres (ICAB)/ Nick Long (Imperial) + his collaborators in Hong Kong Polytechnic University |
| Collaborator Contribution | We have been supplying the following users with radiometals (64Cu/52Mn), in collaboration with Birmingham MC40 facility: • Richard Southworth (ICAB) • Michelle Ma (ICAB) • Graeme Stasiuk (ICAB) • Stephen Archibald (ICAB) • Cinzia Imberti (ICAB) • Rafa Torres (ICAB)/ Nick Long (Imperial) + his collaborators in Hong Kong Polytechnic University |
| Impact | We have been supplying the following users with radiometals (64Cu/52Mn), in collaboration with Birmingham MC40 facility: • Richard Southworth (ICAB) • Michelle Ma (ICAB) • Graeme Stasiuk (ICAB) • Stephen Archibald (ICAB) • Cinzia Imberti (ICAB) • Rafa Torres (ICAB)/ Nick Long (Imperial) + his collaborators in Hong Kong Polytechnic University |
| Start Year | 2024 |
| Description | University of York/ Tokyo Institute of Technology Quantum Entanglement Imaging |
| Organisation | Tokyo Institute of Technology |
| Country | Japan |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | The CARL radiochemistry facility contributed access to specialist infrastructure and technical support enabling the generation of pilot data for the development and testing of novel radiochemistry-compatible detector technology. This included support for experimental radiotracer production and handling required to evaluate imaging of cascade gamma emissions in preclinical settings. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The University of York and the Tokyo Institute of Technology contributed expertise in detector design and quantum imaging methodology, including development of the novel detector technology and analytical frameworks for measuring and interpreting quantum entanglement and cascade gamma emissions. They also led integration of detector concepts with experimental requirements. The collaboration generated pilot data that has supported a joint grant application with the University of York, currently under review. |
| Impact | The collaboration generated pilot data that has supported a joint grant application with the University of York, currently under review. |
| Start Year | 2025 |
| Description | University of York/ Tokyo Institute of Technology Quantum Entanglement Imaging |
| Organisation | University of York |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | The CARL radiochemistry facility contributed access to specialist infrastructure and technical support enabling the generation of pilot data for the development and testing of novel radiochemistry-compatible detector technology. This included support for experimental radiotracer production and handling required to evaluate imaging of cascade gamma emissions in preclinical settings. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The University of York and the Tokyo Institute of Technology contributed expertise in detector design and quantum imaging methodology, including development of the novel detector technology and analytical frameworks for measuring and interpreting quantum entanglement and cascade gamma emissions. They also led integration of detector concepts with experimental requirements. The collaboration generated pilot data that has supported a joint grant application with the University of York, currently under review. |
| Impact | The collaboration generated pilot data that has supported a joint grant application with the University of York, currently under review. |
| Start Year | 2025 |
| Description | gsk kcl collaboration |
| Organisation | GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) |
| Country | Global |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | collaborative research on drug labelling |
| Collaborator Contribution | financial and some research samples |
| Impact | chemistry, biology, pharmacology |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | xCT theranostics programme |
| Organisation | Apollo Therapeutics |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | The CARL radiochemistry facility provided access to specialist infrastructure, equipment, and technical support enabling the research team led by PI Tim Witney to carry out their project from proof-of-concept through to full preclinical evaluation of diagnostic and therapeutic radiotracer analogues. The facility enabled the team to undertake radionuclide production, radiochemical synthesis, purification, and quality control within a purpose-built radiochemistry environment, supporting iterative development and optimisation of radiotracers for preclinical assessment of tumour targeting and therapeutic efficacy. Access to the CARL facility also supported engagement with the industrial partner Apollo Therapeutics by enabling the generation of robust preclinical data, contributing to intellectual property development and subsequent investment in the programme. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Apollo Therapeutics contributed industrial partnership support, including strategic input into translational development, evaluation of commercial potential, and investment to advance the programme following generation of promising preclinical data. This collaboration has also supported intellectual property development, including patent filing activity. |
| Impact | Funding received, three patents filed, two oral presentations given an EMIM 2026 conference. |
| Start Year | 2024 |
| Company Name | Nuclide Therapeutics (NTx) (spin-out) |
| Description | The use of CARL for the generation of high amounts of NTx's lead compound (NTx-11) was critical for performing the required preclinical efficacy study. The data generated was central to NTx successfully raising funds for the clinical translation of NTx-11 and the expansion of their pipeline. Beyond facilitating these key experiments, access to CARL for future work gave investors confidence that NTx had the necessary state of the art facilities to perform leading research in a highly regulated research field. |
| Year Established | 2024 |
| Impact | The use of CARL for the generation of high amounts of NTx's lead compound (NTx-11) was critical for performing the required preclinical efficacy study. The data generated was central to NTx successfully raising funds for the clinical translation of NTx-11 and the expansion of their pipeline. Beyond facilitating these key experiments, access to CARL for future work gave investors confidence that NTx had the necessary state of the art facilities to perform leading research in a highly regulated research field. |
| Description | Royal Society of Chemistry Radiochemistry Group & King's College London Radionuclide Production in the UK Wednesday 18th October 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | The meeting explored the current status of radionuclide production and prospects for the future. Radionuclide production for nuclear medicine and other applications will be covered in this meeting. We heard from a great selection of invited speakers who will present their research and facility development across a range of technologies including extraction from nuclear waste, accelerator/cyclotron-based production and purification methods, new technologies, and the current growth and innovation in the uses of radionuclides. We also accepted abstracts for posters on these topics. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.rsc.org/events/detail/76382/radionuclide-production-in-the-uk |
| Description | UK PET Chemistry |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | A national symposium hosted at KCL on the topic of PET Radiochemistry - attended by over 100 delegates from around the UK and with industry representation. A mixture of early career researcher talks, keynotes, posters and workshops. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://a8d31aa2-77e9-4491-b295-92c196dcee2b.filesusr.com/ugd/98bcc2_5e83809ffd234203a635779f2bc1f4b... |
| Description | Workshop on Radionuclide production and radiochemistry |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | The Cyclotron and Radiochemistry Laboratory (CARL) at King's College London opened as a new research-only radiochemistry national facility in March 2023. The facility supports radionuclide production and radiopharmaceutical chemistry research and development, and also has the potential to facilitate the critical hands-on training needed to sustain this kind of technical expertise in the UK. In connection with the UK PET Chemistry meeting hosted by King's College London, the CARL facility ran its first pilot workshop in October 2023. The workshop was aimed at technical staff from PET Centres across the UK. We offered 8 spaces, and all were filled, with participants from University College London, Medicines Discovery Catapult (Manchester), King's College London, University of Cambridge, University of Hull, Cardiff University and the National Physical Laboratory. The workshop was facilitated by staff from Xiel, who delivered training on Eckert & Ziegler modular lab automated equipment, and LabLogic who delivered training on HPLC analytical techniques. The 1-day workshop consisted of a classroom session in the morning, followed by hands-on training in the CARL facility in the afternoon. Lunch and refreshments were provided throughout the day. The morning classroom session was split into two parts - it began with a lecture on basic HPLC equipment set-up and included a review of common issues and how best to troubleshoot. The second session focused on software sequencing of the automated synthesis units for Eckert & Ziegler equipment. In groups, participants were able to familiarise themselves and practice designing sequences with the sequencing software using laptops. After lunch, the workshop moved to the CARL facility where participants could get more hands-on with the automated synthesis kit and HPLC, putting the theory into practice. The day finished with a group discussion including opportunity for feedback and ideas for future workshops. Feedback surveys will also be sent to participants in due course, ahead of preparations for the next workshop in CARL. We are very grateful to the teams from Xiel and Lablogic for their time and expertise in delivering this workshop. We are also very grateful for the generous funding from the MRF which enabled us to run this pilot workshop in CARL, including the ability to significantly subsidise travel and accommodation costs for all attendees so that the workshop (and UK PET Chemistry meeting) was financially accessible for all. We are also very happy to report that the Royal Society of Chemistry Radiochemistry Group have since demonstrated their support for this type of workshop and have committed to financially supporting future workshops in the CARL facility. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |