UW-Madison researchers in collaboration with researchers at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory have developed chelated antimony (Sb) that can be used for targeted Auger radiotherapy. While 119Sb has been considered for this type of radiation treatment for over 20 years, it is unstable, and its use limited by a lack of chemical chelators that can stabilize the radionuclide. The researchers identified a chelating chemistry to stabilize the antimony and have begun studying the pharmacokinetics of the molecule.
The chelating molecule the inventors used with antimony has been used to chelate 68Ga previously, so it’s not new. The inventors tested the chelated antimony in vivo and found that the molecule stayed in the blood for days. This may be too long, so they feel that the molecule will need to be modified to improve clearance. It does demonstrate the stability of the molecule, however.