The beginning of the year marked an important milestone for the AlphaStar project, a contract research program at the Nuclear Physics Institute of the CAS funded by Eckert & Ziegler Radiopharma. Led by Prof. Ondřej Lebeda and Dr. Jan Ráliš, the research team is developing a technology for the production of actinium-225 (225Ac). This radionuclide is widely regarded as the most promising alpha emitter for the treatment of small tumors and micrometastases. A major obstacle to 225Ac-based radiopharmaceutical research and clinical adoption is the limited availability of the radionuclide, caused by the exceptional complexity of its production. The AlphaStar project paves the way toward producing 225Ac in high quantities and quality.
As part of the research and development phase, the team successfully produced the first gigabecquerel of 225Ac in a single production run. This level of activity is sufficient for the preparation of more than one hundred therapeutic doses. Given the limited supply of 225Ac, reaching this milestone represents a remarkable achievement on a global scale. The 225Ac production laboratory at NPI has thus joined a small, elite group of facilities capable of supplying this radionuclide in clinically relevant quantities.
This milestone represents a major step toward the routine production of 225Ac and provides strong motivation for the research team’s continued work.
Regarding the success, Prof. Lebeda says: “It is my joy and pleasure to work with such an outstanding team of professionals. After four years of focused effort, this key result confirms that our technology meets the requirements for large-scale production of 225Ac at high purity. It represents another step toward implementing alpha-emitter-based radiopharmaceuticals, which target cancers that are challenging to treat.”
