Radiopharmaceutical R&D consists of medical research aimed at developing new drugs that employ radiation as a means of detecting and destroying diseased cells in the body. The radiation source is a radioactive metal or radioisotope that is usually attached to an antibody either directly or via a chelator. This approach is also known as radioimmunotherapy when the purpose of introducing the radiation is to destroy the diseased cells and is juxtaposed to radioimmuno diagnostics, which is concerned with generating images of the diseased area
Radiopharmaceutical R&D consists of medical research aimed at developing new drugs that employ radiation as a means of detecting and destroying diseased cells. There are three primary areas of focus in this research, namely radioisotope generation, monoclonal antibody identification and chelator development. The radiation source is a radioactive metal or radioisotope that is usually attached to an antibody either directly or via a chelator. This approach is also known as radioimmunotherapy when the purpose of introducing the radiation is to destroy the diseased cells and is juxtaposed to radioimmuno diagnostics, which is concerned with generating images of the diseased area
New superior radiation sources are continuously being evaluated. The half-life and the level of energy emitted are the two most important features for the radioisotope.
Various biotechnology companies conduct identification and isolation of appropriate monoclonal antibodies to target certain diseased cells. The antibody helps to target the radiation source to the diseased cells by preferentially accumulating in the vicinity of the diseased cells. Targeting has been used to generally describe this strategy to deliver radiation to the intended areas of the body.
Macrocyclics is involved in the third area of research, the development of appropriate chelators to safely deliver the radioactive metals and to attach to the antibodies. The chelator encapsulates the radioisotope thereby preventing it from residing "in a free state" in the body. Simultaneously, the chelator also provides a point of attachment to the antibody to enable targeting. Minimizing collateral damage to healthy cells is a major challenge and the focus of much the current radiopharmaceutical research.