The 68 Ge/ 68 Ga generator provides an excellent source of positron-emitting 68 Ga. However, newly available ''ionic'' 68 Ge/ 68 Ga radionuclide generators are not necessarily optimized for the synthesis of 68 Ga-labeled radiopharmaceuticals. The eluates have rather large volumes, a high concentration of H 1 (pH of 1), a breakthrough of 68 Ge, increasing with time or frequency of use, and impurities such as stable Zn(II) generated by the decay of 68 Ga, Ti(IV) as a constituent of the column material, and Fe(III) as a general impurity. Methods: We have developed an efficient route for the processing of generator-derived 68 Ga eluates, including the labeling and purification of biomolecules. Preconcentration and purification of the initial generator eluate are performed using a miniaturized column with organic cationexchanger resin and hydrochloric acid/acetone eluent. The purified fraction was used for the labeling of nanomolar amounts of octreotide derivatives either in pure aqueous solution or in buffers. Results: Using the generator post-eluate processing system, .97% of the initially eluated 68 Ga activity was obtained within 4 min as a 0.4-mL volume of a hydrochloric acid/acetone fraction. The initial amount of 68 Ge(IV) was decreased by a factor of 10 4 , whereas initial amounts of Zn(II), Ti(IV), and Fe(III) were reduced by factors of 10 5 , 10 2 , and 10, respectively. The processed 68 Ga fraction was directly transferred to solutions containing labeling precursors-for example, DOTA-DPhe 1 -Tyr 3 -octreotide (DOTATOC) (DOTA 5 1,4,7,N9, N99,. Labeling yields of .95% were achieved within 10 min. Overall yields reached 70% at 20 min after generator elution relative to the eluted 68 Ga activity, not corrected for decay. Specific activities of 68 Ga-DOTATOC were 50 MBq/nmol using a standard protocol, reaching 450 MBq/nmol under optimized conditions. Conclusion: Processing on a cation-exchanger in hydrochloric acid/acetone media represents an efficient strategy for the concentration and purification of generator-derived 68 Ga(III) eluates. The developed scheme guarantees high yields and safe preparation of injectable 68 Ga-labeled radiopharmaceuticals for routine application and is easy to automate. Thus, it is being successfully used in clinical environments and might contribute to a new direction for clinical PET, which could benefit significantly from the easy and safe availability of the radionuclide generatorderived metallic positron-emitter 68 Ga. Zn. 68 Ga is an excellent positron emitter, with 89% positron branching accompanied by low photon emission (1,077 keV, 3.22%) (1,2). 68 Ge/ 68 Ga radionuclide generators have been the object of development and investigation for almost 50 y. For a recent review on this and other PET radionuclide generator systems see Rösch et al. (3).Today, the most common commercially available 68 Ge/ 68 Ga radionuclide generator is based on a TiO 2 solid phase (Cyclotron Co. Ltd.) (4). The generators are produced with 68 Ge activities of up to 3.7 GBq. ''Ionic'' 68 Ga 31...