Prospective of 68Ga-Radiopharmaceutical Development

Positron Emission Tomography (PET) experienced accelerated development and has become an established method for medical research and clinical routine diagnostics on patient individualized basis. Development and availability of new radiopharmaceuticals specific for particular diseases is one of the driving forces of the expansion of clinical PET. The future development of the Ga-68-radiopharmaceuticals must be put in the context of several aspects such as role of PET in nuclear medicine, unmet medical needs, identification of new biomarkers, targets and corresponding ligands, production and availability of Ga-68, automation of the radiopharmaceutical production, progress of positron emission tomography technologies and image analysis methodologies for improved quantitation accuracy, PET radiopharmaceutical regulations as well as advances in radiopharmaceutical chemistry. The review presents the prospects of the Ga-68-based radiopharmaceutical development on the basis of the current status of these aspects as well as wide range and variety of imaging agents.