Telix Pharmaceuticals Limited  announces that it has developed and validated a breakthrough generator technology for the production of lead-212 (²¹²Pb) and successfully completed first production.

The new generator technology, developed internally by Telix's IsoTherapeutics team, produces ²¹²Pb via a sealed Thorium-228 (²²⁸Th) source, and significantly increases the amount of radioactivity, yield and shelf life compared to currently available ²¹²Pb generators. The fully automated, high-output generators have a small, single hot cell footprint and produce sufficient ²¹²Pb elution for up to 60 clinical doses, with the potential to further scale. The production footprint has been designed to be deployed throughout Telix's (and select partner) manufacturing and distribution networks, including the recently acquired RLS Radiopharmacies network. This development builds on Telix's extensive experience with developing generator-based radiopharmaceutical products.

The novel technology opens new opportunities for the development of alpha-emitting radiopharmaceuticals for use in Telix's next-generation therapeutics pipeline. Lead-212 is a promising isotope for Targeted Alpha Therapy (TAT) but its relatively short half-life (10.6 hours, compared with 9.9 days for actinium-225, ²²⁵Ac) and lack of production scale has limited commercial potential. The alpha-emitting profile of ²¹²Pb also has practical synergies with engineered antibodies being developed using Telix's newly acquired discovery platform, with pharmacology and clearance organ characteristics that are well suited to its short half-life.

Chad Watkins, General Manager, Isotope Strategy, Telix, said, "A lead-212 generator that produces minimal waste and fits within the current radiopharmacy footprint is a step change in the production of this alpha emitting therapeutic radioisotope. It creates the potential for commercial scale lead-212 isotope production that wasn't possible before and opens up new pathways for matching this promising alpha isotope with a range of targeting agents."