Radiopharmaceutical Chemistry

The Radiopharmaceutical Chemistry (RadChem) service offers design and synthesis of radiotracers for imaging both with positron emission tomography (PET) and single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). Our facilities are well-equipped for a variety of (radio)synthesis procedures for small molecules, peptides, antibodies and cells.

Location 

Department of Chemistry, Chemicum, A.I. Virtasen aukio 1, 00560 Helsinki

Services

  • Custom synthesis of PET radiotracers labelled with fluorine-18, gallium-68 and zirconium-89 based on reported procedures or developed based on customer leads
  • Radiolabelling of SPECT radiotracers with commercially available radionuclides such as technetium-99m and indium-111
  • Procurement of tritiated and carbon-14-labeled radiotracers for autoradiography studies
  • Preparation and analysis of radioactive biological samples

Instruments/facilities

  • IBA cyclone 10/5 cyclotron for the production of PET radionuclides such as fluorine-18 and carbon-11
  • A-type laboratory equipped with hot cells and remote-controlled synthesis units for working with high radioactivity and positron/gamma emitters
  • Variety of (radio)analytical equipment including gamma counter, liquid scintillation counter, gamma spectrometers and radio-HPLCs for detection and measurement of radioactivity, quality control of the radiotracers and biodistribution studies
  • Well-equipped B-type animal laboratory for biodistribution studies and tracer biological evaluation
  • Digital autoradiography systems (Fujifilm FLA-5100 scanner with Aida Image analysis software, ai4r BeaQuant real-time autoradiography system with BeaMage analysis software)
  • Cryostat microtome (Leica CM1950) for the preparation of sections for histology and autoradiography

User fees

The UH internal prices (excl. VAT) valid for 2024–2025 are listed below. Please ask a quotation for your project if you need multiple services. External users, please contact Associate Prof. Mirkka Sarparanta for pricing and access to service.

Service €/h
Project planning and assistance 45
Radiochemistry (labor) 60
Use of (radio)synthesis and analytical equipment 35
Image analysis / Assisted use of the imaging systems 45
Leica CM1950 cryosectioning 20
FLA-5100 digital autoradiography 20
BeaQuant real-time autoradiography 20
Use of image analysis software (workstation) 5
Radiotracers €/batch*
2-[18F]fluoro-2-deoxyglucose, [18F]FDG, <2 GBq 370
Al[18F]F-RESCA-rat serum albumin, <2 GBq 310
99mTc-human serum albumin nanocolloid (Rotop NanoHSA®), 1–6 GBq 259**
99mTc-DTPA (Technescan®), 1–6 GBq 288**

*Radiotracer prices include radionuclide production, radiochemistry work, use of radioanalytical instrumentation, radiolabeling precursor and quality control. The price of the transportation to Biomedicum 1 or Biocenter 3 will be added.

**For 99mTc-radiolabeling, a 4.3-GBq 99Mo/99mTc UltraTechneKow® generator (890 €) is ordered. The generator is good for approximately 5–7 radiolabelings within one week.
Contact information