Automated Radiosynthesis and Preclinical in Vivo Evaluation of 18F-Fluoroacetate

Skye Hsin-Hsien Yeh1,2, Chi-Wei Chang3, Tsung-Hsun Yu1,2, Wen-Sheng Huang4

1School of Medicine, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan
2Brain Research Center, National Yang Ming Chaio Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan
3Primo Biotechnology, Taipei, Taiwan
4Department of Nuclear Medicine, Cheng Hsin General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan

This study poster was presented at the 34th Annual Meeting of the International Society for Medical Innovation and Technology (iSMIT 2023).

The motivation for this prospective study lies in the limitations of [11C]-acetate due to its shorter physical half-life in clinical applications. Therefore, the aim was to develop and validate a cGMP-compliant analog of acetate labeled with 18F, namely 18F-fluoroethyl acetate ([18F]FACE).

Using customized automated synthesis modules and Eckert-Ziegler modules, [11C]-acetate and [18F]-fluoroethyl acetate were synthesized separately and injected into six ICR mice. Quantitative analysis was then performed using dynamic PET and MRI imaging. Compared to [11C]-acetate, [18F]-fluoroethyl acetate exhibited different kinetic characteristics and accumulated faster in the organs. In this study, a method for the automated synthesis of [18F]-fluoroethyl acetate that meets cGMP standards was successfully developed.

The current research results indicate that [18F]-fluoroethyl acetate is a promising alternative to [11C]-acetate in PET imaging research or clinical applications to study oxidative metabolism in various tissues such as the heart and tumors.

Primo Biotechnology highly values and supports this research. In collaboration with Professor Yeh Hsin-Hsien from the School of Medicine of the National Defense Medical Center and the Brain Research Center of the National Yang-Ming University, the aim is to provide more stable and effective diagnostic drugs for imaging research and clinical applications.