There are provided a pharmaceutical raw material capable of exhibiting a
uniform functionality and producing magnetic particle-containing drugs
for diagnosis and medical treatments with a high reproducibility. The
pharmaceutical raw material comprises a monodisperse colloid sterile
aqueous solution of magnetic iron oxide fine particles having an average
particle diameter of 5 to 30 nm, a saturation magnetization of 50 to 90
Am.sup.2/kg and a coercive force of 0.1 to 1.6 kA/m. The pharmaceutical
raw material can be produced by forming magnetic iron oxide fine
particles in the form of a colloid aqueous solution, purifying the
resultant colloid aqueous solution of superparamagnetic iron oxide
particles by water-washing and removing water-soluble salts by-produced
upon the reaction from the reaction solution by an ordinary method, and
replacing a dispersing medium of the purified colloid aqueous solution
with ultrapure water.