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Rhenium is one of the rarest and densest elements in the Earth's crust and was among the last stable elements to be discovered, in 1925, Rhenium-186 is a synthetic radioisotope produced for therapy, with a half-life of about 3.7 days.
Rhenium-186 emits beta particles that deliver therapeutic radiation over a short range, together with a low-abundance gamma photon that allows imaging during treatment.
Rhenium-186 is used mainly for non-melanoma skin cancer (Rhenium-SCT) and bone metastases (rhenium-186 HEDP). Its technetium-like chemistry also makes it attractive for matched diagnostic and therapeutic pairs and for emerging targeted treatments.
Rhenium-186 is produced in a reactor by direct neutron activation of enriched rhenium-185. This route yields only low-to-medium specific activity, which currently confines it to particle and diphosphonate agents rather than peptides, and it depends on reactor neutron capacity.
StandardX is developing accelerator-driven production to strengthen reliable, high-specific activity supply of rhenium-186 to enable new avenues of medical research.