Evaluation of Pakgen 99mTc generators loaded with indigenous fission 99Mo

Fission produced Mo-99/Tc-99m generators, called Pakgen, have been manufactured at the PINSTECH generator production facility since 2000 for nuclear medicine applications in Pakistan. These generators were loaded with fission Mo-99 imported from NTP South Africa. Recently production of fission Mo-99 has begun in the Molybdenum-99 Production Facility at PINSTECH. Prior to use in the clinic, eight sets of generators were produced, 23 GBq and 74 GBq at time of calibration, and they were subjected to various quality control procedures recommended in the pharmacopoeia to assess their performance. The elution profile, volume, activity, pH, radionuclidic, chemical, radiochemical and biological purity, and expiry time of the eluates were examined. Labeling efficiency tests were also carried out with a number of the more widely used in vivo radiopharmaceutical kits like DTPA, MDP and MIBI. Performance of Tc-99m generators loaded with locally produced and imported fission Mo-99 was comparable, and the users of Pakgen generators were fully satisfied. The effect of a wet vs. a dry column on Tc-99m yields of generators loaded with low and high activity was also studied for the first time.