SBIR Phase I: Developing Bioconjugation and Preparation of 18F-Biomolecules for PET Imaging

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to develop a platform technology for the design and preparation of a new class of highly sensitive diagnostic agents (known as "radiotracers") for Positron Emission Tomography (PET) imaging. The technology introduces a new generation of diagnostic agents for early detection of diseases and improves existing radiopharmaceuticals for imaging and therapy protocols. Early detection is the key to patient survival because it guides treatment decisions and enables better targeting, assessment, and monitoring. The technology can potentially change the standard of care in the diagnosis and evaluation of many conditions and diseases, and moreover can provide access to more advanced clinical care in geographically dispersed regions. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will focus on developing 18F-labeled radiotracers for the detection of prostate cancer, neuroendocrine tumors, and type 2 diabetes. The current chemical technologies use radionuclides that either are not compatible with commercial radiopharmacies, which causes higher cost in production process and limited accessibility by patients, or have concerning safety issues (e.g. cell damage from long radioactive exposure). 18F is the ideal radioisotope with many technical, commercial, and imaging qualities for PET imaging, but it has a challenging chemistry for production of new products. This technology overcomes the traditional chemistry challenges and allows for the preparation of 18F-labeled radiotracers as bioconjugation kits. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.