“Taiyo Nippon Sanso had a facility under construction at the Sodegaura plant (Chiba Prefecture) of Chiba Sanso Center to produce 200 kg a year of Water-18O (18O-labeled water) which is an original material for drugs used in the FDG-PET examinations. This plant was completed on June 4 and plans call for the shipping out of products as of November. Combining this with the existing plant with a capacity of 100 kg a year, the company will have a total annual production capacity of 300kg, the largest in the world. This is a plan calling for a stable supply of this material for use in FDG-PET examinations for which the demand has been expanding year by year.

FDG is a state-of-the-art cancer diagnostic agent for Positron Emission Tomography (PET). FDG-PET examination method for the early diagnosis of cancer has been attracting considerable attention recently. This examination method is not only used in the developed nations such as in the US and Japan, along with Europe, but it has also started to be used in the emerging nations of the Middle East, Asia, and South America. Due to this the number of examinations has been increasing, and it is anticipated that it will be increasing at an annual rate of 5-10%. The demand for Water-18O is linked to this trend and is growing, with the global market in 2012 exceeding 700 kg for the year.

Based on the technology for the cryogenic oxygen distillation, Taiyo Nippon Sanso has established the enrichment method for producing Water-18O. In 2004 it began mass production of Water-18O with an enrichment of 98atom% or more, the world’s highest level of enrichment. With this method, the company has achieved a reduction of energy used in production to 1/6 that of the conventional water distillation method. This production method also complies with GMP. The production plant has been installed adjacent to the ASU distillation column because oxygen is required for enriching Water-18O. The new plant, together with the existing plant, enables production at 2 locations which functions as a backup during regular maintenance as well as during times of disaster.

Investment in the new plant amounts to 1.2 billion. It can produce 200 kg of Water-18O a year with an enrichment over 98 atom%. The product is supplied with glass septum vials of 10g, 20g, and 50g.

Chiba Sanso Center

The Sodegaura plant replacement

The company likewise finished construction of its new ASU #7adjcent to its new Water-18O plant on June 4. It has a capacity of 8,000 Nm3 an hour of oxygen gas, 33,000 Nm3 an hour of nitrogen gas, and 340 Nm3 an hour of liquid argon. The facility was produced by Taiyo Nippon Sanso.

Chiba Sanso Center, with a wholly owned gas piping company, supplies oxygen and nitrogen through a pipeline totaling 60km in length to 30 companies of the Kyeiyo petrochemical conglomerate.

Depending on what happens with the demand for gas, and without changing the amount of the treatment of crude air, the ratio of the production of oxygen and nitrogen can be changed up to 5,000 Nm3 an hour. In addition, the method of raising pressure with a liquid oxygen pump can be adopted by changing over to an oxygen compressor, and the production efficiency increased.”