Automated radiosynthesis of ⁶⁸Ga for large-scale routine production using ⁶⁸Zn pressed target

Gallium-68 (⁶⁸Ga) has attracted increasing interest in recent years due to the expanding clinical applications of ⁶⁸Ga-based radiopharmaceuticals (Rahbar et al., 2017). ⁶⁸Ga is mainly produced via ⁶⁸Ge/⁶⁸Ga generators that are limited in yield by the ⁶⁸Ge activity (typically up to 1.85 GBq at calibration time). With the increased-demand of ⁶⁸Ga in nuclear medicine for positron emission tomography (PET) imaging, there is a need for more efficient and robust production methods to obtain larger amounts of [⁶⁸Ga]GaCl₃ with high radionuclidic and radiochemical purity and apparent molar activity (AMA) for facilitating the distribution of ⁶⁸Ga-based radiopharmaceuticals. The objectives of this study were to develop a fast and efficient process for the preparation of ⁶⁸Zn-based solid targets and to optimize the critical parameters for the automated radiosynthesis of [⁶⁸Ga]GaCl₃ for large-scale routine production.