Translational research

ANSTO has developed intellectual property in two exciting fields of Cryptate and Platinum technologies.  These new technologies will allow for a more personalised approach to nuclear medicine and give clinicians greater power when it comes to prognosis and diagnosis of diseases. In addition they will reduce potential side effects by monitoring desired drugs through out the body.

Cryptate technology

In collaboration with the Australian National University (ANU), ANSTO has developed cryptate technology, with its lead compound SarAr, for use in diagnosis and treatment of disease. Patents have been secured in the USA, Europe and Australia.

SarAr technology is simple and user friendly for use at either a central production facility or in a nuclear medicine department. It has the potential to reduce the cost of preclinical and clinical trials for new treatment therapies in the pharmaceutical industry.

Platinum technology

ANSTO has also designed a rapid and reliable synthetic method for the production of platinum(II) based radiopharmaceuticals that increases production of higher yields with  dramatic reductions in production time. The platinum group of compounds is highly effective for first and second line cancer treatment options particularly testicular, ovarian, lung, bladder, head and neck cancers.

While platinum therapy is usually associated with significant side effects, these new formulations will also improve the safety and efficacy of existing platinum cancer treatments. Using radioactive platinum, as developed by ANSTO, doctors can monitor patient responses to treatment and devise individualised doses, avoiding the use of inappropriate therapy and the costs associated with the management of severe adverse reactions.

Research aims

Translational research aims to

1. optimise the production of Platinum Radiopharmaceuticals by investigation into neutron scattering techniques for optimising the production of enriched platinum target materials (specifically PtCl₂ and PtCl₄) and a process developed for production of Generation III Platinum Radiopharmaceuticals e.g. Pt-195m-oxali-platinum. The production process and clinical trials of Pt-195m Cisplatin will be carried out in collaboration with NECSA, South Africa.
2. investigate the optimisation of SarAr conjugation to key Molecular Recognition units (MRU) including peptides, proteins and particles and transfer to partners. The current SarAr patent technology related to Cryptate has been licensed to Clarity Radiopharmaceuticals Ltd. A production process for next generation SarAr technology (e.g. SCN and acetyl bromide compounds) and new Mn MRI agents will be developed.
3. develop new patent technology related to Cryptates by developing novel synthetic methods to increase yield and reduce cost of SarAr production and investigate novel production methods for SarAr-maleamide. Nuclear sensors also aim to open up the area of conjugates to include nano-particles as a new area of Nano-medicines.