# Cyclotron isotope production (F-18, Ga-68, Cu-64, Zr-89, At-211)

Source: https://onco.cc/technologies/cyclotron-isotope-production/  
OnCo record `cyclotron-isotope-production` (Technology). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

Proton-rich isotopes for PET scans and some therapies are made by hitting a target with a beam from a cyclotron. Fluorine-18 is made every morning within driving distance of the scanner; gallium-68 comes from either a generator or a cyclotron; copper-64 and zirconium-89 last long enough to ship across a country.

## Summary

A medical cyclotron accelerates protons (or for a few isotopes deuterons or alpha particles) into a target whose nuclei absorb them and emit neutrons. Fluorine-18 (half-life 110 minutes) is made from oxygen-18-enriched water in almost every PET-producing radiopharmacy and cyclotron centre, then built into FDG, PSMA and other tracers by automated synthesis modules; distribution is limited to a few hours' travel. Gallium-68 (68 minutes) has two routes: a germanium-68/gallium-68 generator that a hospital elutes several times a day for about a year (made by Eckert & Ziegler, IRE ELiT and ITM among others), or direct cyclotron production from zinc-68 targets, which regulators have accepted for PSMA kits in the United States and which frees users from generator allocation. Copper-64 (12.7 hours, from nickel-64) and zirconium-89 (78 hours, from yttrium-89) allow central manufacture and national shipping, so copper-64 dotatate is made at a few sites and flown to scanners across the United States. Astatine-211 for alpha therapy needs an alpha beam of about 28 MeV on bismuth, which only a handful of cyclotrons in the world can deliver, and actinium-225 can be made from radium-226 targets on medium-energy cyclotrons (covered in the actinium record).

The machines and the shielded hot cells and synthesis modules are covered in the existing cyclotron record; this record is about the isotopes and their supply. Capacity constraints are target material (enriched oxygen-18 water, zinc-68, nickel-64 and above all radium-226), beam time shared between commercial tracers, and the GMP burden on hospital sites under 21 CFR 212 and EU Annex 3. The cyclotron makers are IBA, GE HealthCare, Siemens Healthineers (through PETNET) and Sumitomo, and the commercial networks (PETNET, Cardinal Health, SOFIE, Curium, Jubilant) run most of the daily production.

## Fields

- Kind: Technology
- Status: standard-of-care
- Last checked: 2026-09-17
- Tags: manufacturing-wave
- Principle: Charged-particle nuclear reactions on enriched targets produce short-lived positron emitters and some alpha emitters, distributed within hours or, for longer-lived isotopes, days.
- Since: 1976
- Strengths: Distributed production near scanners; No reactor or fissile material; Cyclotron gallium relieves generator limits
- Limitations: Enriched target materials; Beam time and same-day logistics; Only a few machines can make astatine-211

## Sources

- 21 CFR Part 212: current good manufacturing practice for PET drugs: https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-21/chapter-I/subchapter-C/part-212
- IAEA: cyclotron produced radionuclides: https://www.iaea.org/publications/7892/cyclotron-produced-radionuclides-principles-and-practice
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluorine-18

## Connected records

- fronts: [Imaging](https://onco.cc/fronts/imaging/), [Radiopharmaceuticals & Theranostics](https://onco.cc/fronts/radiopharma/)
- technologies: [Actinium-225 supply: thorium stocks, accelerators and radium targets](https://onco.cc/technologies/actinium-225-supply/), [Astatine-211 alpha therapy](https://onco.cc/technologies/astatine-211-alpha-therapy/), [Medical cyclotrons, hot cells, and synthesis modules](https://onco.cc/technologies/medical-cyclotrons-synthesis-modules/), [PET (positron emission tomography)](https://onco.cc/technologies/pet/), [PET tracer manufacturing and distribution](https://onco.cc/technologies/pet-tracer-manufacturing/), [PSMA PET](https://onco.cc/technologies/psma-pet/), [Radionuclide generators and cold kits](https://onco.cc/technologies/radionuclide-generators-kits/), [Radiopharmaceutical GMP and releasing a drug that decays](https://onco.cc/technologies/radiopharmaceutical-gmp-release/), [Radiopharmacy and cyclotron networks](https://onco.cc/technologies/radiopharmacy-network/), [Research reactors for medical isotopes (Mo-99, Lu-177, I-131)](https://onco.cc/technologies/research-reactor-isotope-production/)
- drugs: [Gallium-68 DOTATATE (and Cu-64 DOTATATE)](https://onco.cc/drugs/ga68-dotatate/)
- companies: [Cardinal Health Nuclear & Precision Health Solutions](https://onco.cc/companies/cardinal-health/), [Curium](https://onco.cc/companies/curium/), [Eckert & Ziegler](https://onco.cc/companies/eckert-ziegler/), [GE HealthCare](https://onco.cc/companies/ge-healthcare/), [IBA (Ion Beam Applications)](https://onco.cc/companies/iba/), [IRE (Institut national des Radioéléments)](https://onco.cc/companies/ire/), [Jubilant Radiopharma](https://onco.cc/companies/jubilant-radiopharma/), [Lantheus](https://onco.cc/companies/lantheus/), [Nusano](https://onco.cc/companies/nusano/), [PETNET Solutions (Siemens Healthineers)](https://onco.cc/companies/petnet-solutions/), [RadioMedix](https://onco.cc/companies/radiomedix/), [Siemens Healthineers](https://onco.cc/companies/siemens-healthineers/), [SOFIE Biosciences](https://onco.cc/companies/sofie-biosciences/), [Telix Pharmaceuticals](https://onco.cc/companies/telix/)

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