What are radiometals?
Radiometals are metallic radionuclides, radioactive isotopes of metallic elements, used in the production of radiopharmaceuticals for imaging or therapy.
Unlike Fluorine-18 ([¹⁸F]), the well-established for PET imaging, which is covalently bonded directly into small organic molecules and enters metabolic pathways, radiometals cannot simply be incorporated into a molecule through organic chemistry.
They require a chelator, a bifunctional molecule that has two functional ends: one that tightly binds the radiometal, and one that can be conjugated to a targeting vector (a peptide, antibody, nanobody, or another molecule).
The chelator acts as a molecular harness. It keeps the radiometal attached to the targeting vector throughout the journey to target.
Getting the chelation chemistry right is as important as choosing the right radiometal. Instability leads to off-target uptake in organs, increased toxicity, and reduced diagnostic or therapeutic efficacy.
The radiometal ecosystem
The choice of radiometal is driven by the application, the targeting molecule, and the clinical question being asked.
- Gallium-68 [⁶⁸Ga]
- Copper-64 [⁶⁴Cu]
- Copper-67 [⁶⁷Cu]
- Zirconium-89 [⁸⁹Zr]
- Scandium-44 [⁴⁴Sc]
- Actinium-225 [²²⁵Ac]
Why radiometals matter for the future of nuclear medicine
With appropriate chelators, you can attach radiometals to virtually any class of targeting molecule: small peptides, large proteins, antibodies, nanobodies, DNA aptamers, nanoparticles. This opens the entire landscape of biological targeting nuclear medicine.
With half-lives range from 68 minutes (⁶⁸Ga) to 78 hours (⁸⁹Zr) to 9.9 days (²²⁵Ac), it reduces the supply chain and delivery frictions. You can choose the radiometal whose physical half-life matches the biological half-life of your targeting molecule, ensuring the isotope is still active when it reaches the biological target in the tissue.
The challenge, the chemistry
Producing radiometals at clinical quality and scale requires sophisticated radiochemistry.
Cyclotron-produced radiometals require well-designed targetry, post-processing to isolate the radiometal from target material, and quality-controlled radiolabeling with the chelator-vector conjugate.
Each step introduces potential yield losses or quality risks. Radiochemists should be able to execute these processes reliably, reproducibly, and quickly.
This is why investment in radiochemistry expertise, automation, and equipment with modern synthesis modules, quality control systems, and optimized processes, is increasingly recognized as an operational and strategic differentiator.
- 31/03/2026
- Prof Dr Jason S. Lewis
Expert Spotlight | Radiometals and next-generation radiopharmaceutical therapeuticsProfessor Jason S. Lewis holds the Emily Tow Chair at MSK in New York. He serves as Deputy Director of the Sloan Kettering Institute, overseeing Science Education and Training, is a Member of the Molecular Pharmacology Program, and an Attending within MSK’s Department of Radiology.
He also holds academic appointments at the Gerstner Sloan Kettering Graduate School and Weill Cornell Medical College.
Professor Lewis leads a molecular imaging research program focused on radiopharmaceutical and multimodality imaging agent development, with strong clinical translation. He has authored over 380 publications and directs several NIH- and NCI-funded training programs.
His honors include the SNMMI Welch Award, the SNMMI Aebersold Award, the WMIS Gold Medal, the ACS Seaborg Award, and the SNMMI Saul Hertz Award. He was elected to the National Academy of Inventors in 2025.
Prof Dr Jason S. Lewis
- Deputy Director, Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, US
- Emily Tow Chair, Memorial Sloan Kettering
- 22/09/2022
IBA and SCK CEN launch Pantera, a joint-venture to produce actinium-225Louvain-La-Neuve, Belgium, 22 September 2022 – IBA (Ion Beam Applications S.A., EURONEXT), the world leader in particle accelerator technology, and the Belgian Nuclear Research Centre SCK CEN today announced the name of their joint-venture: Pantera SA/NV, which they believe will bring new hope for cancer patients. As indicated in the announcement of the R&D strategic partnership, this new company will aim to secure the large-scale production of actinium-225 (225Ac), one of the most promising alpha-emitting radioisotopes to fight cancers. By working towards this large-scale production, Pantera’s ultimate goal is to improve the accessibility of a future innovative cancer therapy based on 225Ac.
The complementarity of IBA and SCK CEN’s expertise has been demonstrated by the extensive and comprehensive R&D work that has been conducted during the last year as they work towards being able to produce large volumes of 225Ac. Pantera is now completing the technical feasibility studies before working on the final design and construction of its first facility in Mol, Belgium. Groundbreaking is expected to take place in 2024, with production starting in 2027.
Sven Van den Berghe, former Director of the Nuclear Materials Science Institute at SCK CEN, has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer, and Samy Bertrand, former technical leader for theranostics applications at IBA, takes the position of Chief Technical Officer.
Bruno Scutnaire, President of IBA RadioPharma Solutions and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Pantera, said: “Actinium-225 offers great promise for the treatment of a large variety of cancers, but only very little of the material is available worldwide today. Once cancer treatments based on 225Ac receive approval, Pantera will focus on enabling access to a dependable supply of this promising isotope.”
Peter Baeten, Deputy Director-General of SCK CEN and Board member of Pantera, commented: “Launching Pantera was a logical choice for SCK CEN and IBA, allowing the joint-venture to leverage the innovative capabilities of both organizations, whilst utilizing the speed of an autonomous startup necessary in this fast-evolving field.”
Sven Van den Berghe, appointed Chief Executive Officer of Pantera, added: “I am excited about the opportunity to help advance the mission of Pantera to bring a new hope for cancer patients by enabling the widespread use of radioisotopes, such as actinium-225, as a basis for promising new radiopharmaceuticals. Pantera offers ’A better fight for life’, potentially bringing an effective and efficient treatment option while maximizing the quality of life of the patients, with the possibility to expand the production to other isotopes in the future.”
Actinium-225 possesses the resounding potential to treat cancers more effectively. Initial results show that the theranostic radioisotope completely eliminates cancer cells, rather than just inhibiting tumour growth. The risk of recurrence also appears to decrease. To date, extensive research and numerous studies are underway which aim to tackle both high prevalence cancers including prostate, lung, colon, breast, pancreatic, blood (leukemia and other rare forms) and kidney cancers, but also rarer forms of cancer like glioblastoma, the deadliest form of a very invasive brain cancer.
- 14/10/2021
Securing Gallium-68 availability with liquid target production on mid-energy cyclotrons: Users' experienceC. Gameiro1, V. H. Alves2, A. Abrunhosa3, F. Alves2, D. Goblet1, B. Nactergal1, A. Uhlending3, V. Hugenberg3, T. Ortgies3, G. Hoeger3, J. Manrique-Arias4, R. Freifelder5, K. Hye-Yeong5, M. Bhuiyan5, A. Kucharski5
1IBA, Louvain-La-Neuve, BELGIUM,
2Institute for Nuclear Sciences Applied in Health (ICNAS), Coimbra, PORTUGAL,
3Department of Radiology, Nuclear medicine and Molecular Imaging, Bad Oeynhausen, GERMANY,
4Cyclotron Department, Doctors Hospital, Monterrey, MEXICO,
5Department of Radiology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, US.