{"entity":{"id":"cu-67","kind":"isotope","name":"Copper-67","aka":["67Cu","Cu-67"],"tldr":"A radioactive form of copper that pairs with a diagnostic twin made of the same element, copper-64. Using the same metal for the scan and the treatment means the tracer behaves identically both times, which should make dosing more predictable.","summary":"Copper-67 decays purely by beta-minus emission with a physical half-life of 61.8-62 hours (about 2.58 days) to stable zinc-67, with a mean beta energy of about 141 keV (maximum energies at 377, 468 and 562 keV) and useful imaging gammas at 93 keV and 184.6 keV (about 49% abundance), which support SPECT-based dosimetry.\n\nIts principal theranostic appeal is chemical identity with copper-64, the positron-emitting isotope used for PET imaging of the same chelator-conjugated agent (e.g. SAR-bisPSMA, SARTATE): the same molecule with the same biodistribution can be imaged pre-therapy with 64Cu and then dosed with 67Cu, avoiding the surrogate mismatch inherent in most other theranostic pairs.\n\nProduction historically used reactor or lower-energy cyclotron reactions (67Zn(n,p)67Cu, 68Zn(p,2p)67Cu, 70Zn(p,α)67Cu), each limited to modest specific activity. A step change came from high-energy bremsstrahlung photonuclear production, 68Zn(γ,p)67Cu, using electron linear accelerators to irradiate enriched 68Zn targets; the US Department of Energy Isotope Program's Low Energy Accelerator Facility (LEAF) uses this route to supply no-carrier-added 67Cu at specific activities above 1850 GBq/mg. Clarity Pharmaceuticals and the DOE Isotope Program are among the groups scaling supply; 67Cu is not dependent on nuclear reactor neutron flux, so it avoids the reactor-capacity bottleneck that constrains 177Lu and 225Ac.","status":"phase-2","asOf":"2026-09-22","links":[{"label":"Recent Advances in 64Cu/67Cu-Based Radiopharmaceuticals (Pharmaceutics, 2023)","url":"https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10288943/"},{"label":"67Cu Production Capabilities: A Mini Review (Front Med, 2022)","url":"https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8912090/"},{"label":"Copper-67 radioimmunotheranostics for simultaneous immunotherapy and immuno-SPECT (Scientific Reports, 2021)","url":"https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-82812-1"},{"label":"Clarity Pharmaceuticals: Copper-64 and Copper-67 - The Perfect Theranostic Pairing","url":"https://www.claritypharmaceuticals.com/technology/copper-isotopes/"}],"tags":["therapy","beta emitter","theranostic pair"],"related":["nct04868604","nct06298916","clarity-pharmaceuticals","cu-64"],"indications":[],"sections":[],"technologies":[],"targets":[],"drugs":[],"companies":[],"institutions":[],"pathways":[],"terms":[],"trials":[],"people":[],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":[],"journals":[],"dependsOn":[],"notes":[],"symbol":"67Cu","element":"Copper","massNumber":67,"halfLife":"61.8 hours (2.58 days)","emissions":["β− mean 141 keV (maxima 377/468/562 keV)","γ 93.3 keV (7-16%)","γ 184.6 keV (~49%)"],"emissionClass":"beta-minus","use":"therapy","tissueRange":"About 0.7 mm mean (comparable to 177Lu)","production":"Accelerator: bremsstrahlung photonuclear reaction on enriched zinc-68, 68Zn(γ,p)67Cu, using an electron linear accelerator; also reactor 67Zn(n,p)67Cu or cyclotron 68Zn(p,2p)67Cu / 70Zn(p,α)67Cu.","supply":"emerging","supplyNote":"The photonuclear 68Zn(γ,p)67Cu route (US DOE Isotope Program's LEAF facility) yields high-specific-activity, no-carrier-added 67Cu without needing reactor neutron flux, easing the bottlenecks that affect 177Lu and 225Ac; supply is scaling but still limited relative to established isotopes.","chelators":["SarAr/SAR-type sarcophagine cages","DOTA"],"pairedWith":["cu-64"]},"route":"/isotopes/cu-67/","neighbours":{"trial":[{"id":"nct06298916","kind":"trial","name":"64Cu-LNTH-1363S in Patients With Sarcoma or Gastrointestinal Tract Cancer","route":"/trials/nct06298916/"},{"id":"nct04868604","kind":"trial","name":"64Cu-SAR-bisPSMA and 67Cu-SAR-bisPSMA for Identification and Treatment of PSMA-expressing Metastatic Castrate Resistant Prostate Cancer (SECuRE)","route":"/trials/nct04868604/"}],"company":[{"id":"clarity-pharmaceuticals","kind":"company","name":"Clarity Pharmaceuticals","route":"/companies/clarity-pharmaceuticals/"},{"id":"niowave","kind":"company","name":"Niowave","route":"/companies/niowave/"},{"id":"nuclidium","kind":"company","name":"Nuclidium","route":"/companies/nuclidium/"}],"isotope":[{"id":"cu-64","kind":"isotope","name":"Copper-64","route":"/isotopes/cu-64/"}],"drug":[{"id":"cu-64-sar-bispsma","kind":"drug","name":"Copper-64 SAR-bisPSMA","route":"/drugs/cu-64-sar-bispsma/"}],"idea":[{"id":"idea-copper-theranostic-pair-standard","kind":"idea","name":"A single-molecule copper-64/copper-67 pair instead of switching ligands between scan and treatment","route":"/ideas/idea-copper-theranostic-pair-standard/"}],"technology":[{"id":"sarcophagine-chelation","kind":"technology","name":"Sarcophagine chelation","route":"/technologies/sarcophagine-chelation/"}]}}