A research team in Jinan has achieved China's first scaled production of scandium-44 (Sc-44) at the hundred-millicurie level, with a production yield 30 percent higher than comparable US technology and one to two times higher than similar technologies in Switzerland and France.

Sc-44 is a short-lived radioactive isotope used in positron emission tomography (PET) for medical diagnosis. Its short half-life and demanding purification process have made stable, large-scale production a longstanding technical challenge.

The breakthrough was achieved by a team at the Jinan Laboratory of Applied Nuclear Science after two years of research and repeated process optimization. The team spent eight months refining its purification process, cutting impurity levels by 90 percent.

The short half-life of Sc-44 also requires production and processing to be completed within a tight timeframe. Researchers worked around the clock through multiple rounds of testing and process adjustments to establish a stable production process.

The new capability is expected to ease reliance on overseas supplies and reduce losses associated with cross-border transportation. The entire production process now takes about 2.5 hours, with each batch providing enough diagnostic doses for 20 to 30 patients and enabling regular monthly production.

Moving forward, the team plans to further improve the purity and production capacity of Sc-44 while developing additional radioisotopes for integrated diagnosis and treatment, further strengthening the domestic radiopharmaceutical industry.

Two researchers work on the production and purification of Sc-44 at a laboratory in Jinan. [Photo/Dazhong News]