PET radiopharmaceuticals are used to diagnose and monitor a range of medical conditions. For example, they are used to diagnose cancer, assess the effectiveness of cancer treatments, and monitor the health of organs and tissues. PET radiopharmaceuticals can also be used to detect certain diseases before they become symptomatic. However, PET radiopharmaceuticals can cause radiation poisoning if not used properly. The level of risk depends on the types of radiation emitted and the half-lives of radioactive isotopes. In recognition of this background and to best inform future developments in service provision, the all-Wales PET Programme within the Welsh Health Specialised Services Committee (WHSSC) requested that the NIHR Innovation Observatory (IO) conduct horizon scanning activities to identify PET radiopharmaceuticals that meet stakeholder requirements. The horizon scanning methodologies developed by the IO to identify the pipeline of PET radiopharmaceutical technologies currently in clinical trials and at pre-clinical stage, involved the identification of information sources that detected ‘signals’ for PET radiopharmaceuticals technologies. Our scan showed that most of the identified clinical trials were investigating the use of F-18 for diagnosis using PET imaging procedures. Ga-68 was also found to have a considerable number of clinical trials, but a relatively small number of clinical trials were testing Rb-82, Cu-64, Zr-89, N-13, and O-15. No clinical trials were found for scandium. Cancer indications were being investigated in a majority of the clinical trials identified. There were more clinical trials at phase 1/2 and 2 stage of clinical development compared to phase 2/3 and 3. Most of the clinical trials are being sponsored by non-industry and most of the clinical trials are being conducted US, Canada, UK/EU areas. Our global horizon scan provides not only the all-Wales PET Programme and WHSSC, but also other organisations/bodies, with information on the opportunities for discovering new indications for the radiopharmaceutical technologies of interest.
Horizon Scanning Report: Identification of innovations for PET radiopharmaceuticals in the context of the Welsh Health Service
This report provides a comprehensive pipeline of PET radiopharmaceuticals currently being developed around the globe and at various stages of clinical trials or preclinical stage of development, as assessed through horizon scanning.