Dear Colleagues,

Nuclear medicine with radiopharmaceutical development as a core has progressed and expanded considerably during the last two decades. Distinct areas of development and application of the radiopharmaceuticals have been outlined. This special issue is devoted to a series of review articles covering various aspects of radiopharmaceutical development and areas of their clinical applications. 

The radiopharmaceuticals are developed for the diagnosis and therapy of various diseases on the molecular level. They can be designed for targeted and pre-targeted imaging and endoradiotherapy as well as non-targeted imaging. The utilization of nuclear medicine techniques for the management of oncological, neurological, cardiological, inflammatory, diabetic, and infectious diseases has considerably expanded during the last two decades. The individualized diagnosis and therapy are becoming a standard in patient care with the most prominent example of the selection of oncological patients for peptide receptor radionuclide therapy, treatment planning and follow-up.

The development of radiopharmaceuticals is a complex process requiring identification of disease biomarkers and respective lead compounds to be modified by medicinal (radio)chemistry; production of clinically relevant radionuclides; radiolabeling of aforementioned modified lead compounds; chemical and pre-clinical evaluation of the resulting radiopharmaceuticals towards first in-human studies and prospective clinical trials. The chemical classes of the radiopharmaceuticals span from small molecules to the largest biomolecules and particles. The exploration and introduction of radionuclides not yet clinically available is also growing extensively.  

Considerable evolution in all aspects of radiopharmaceutical sciences and application has been boosted during the last two decades through marketing approval of several diagnostic, therapeutic, and theranostic radiopharmaceuticals. Therefore, the initiative to publish a special issue comprising review articles has been taken within the journal “Pharmaceuticals” wherein researchers are invited to share their abundant knowledge, expertise, experience, and ideas. The review articles are to focus and highlight the advancement achieved in:

• Radionuclides for nuclear medicine techniques including Positron Emission Tomography (PET), Single-Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT), and endoradiotherapy/molecular radiotherapy. 
• Chemical classes of the radiopharmaceuticals spanning from small molecules via peptides and peptidomimetics to the largest biomolecules and particles. 
• Diagnostic and therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals for the management of oncological, neurological, cardiological, inflammatory, diabetic, and infectious diseases.

Submissions to the Special Issue need to include a cover letter stating the novelty of the review article in comparison to related reviews published in the literature. A 20% discount will be applied to the Article Processing Charges (APCs).

Dr. Irina Velikyan
Prof. Dr. Klaus Kopka
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Pharmaceuticals is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• nuclear medicine
• positron emission tomography
• single photon emission tomography
• endoradiotherapy
• (radionuclide)theranostics
• personalized medicine
• radionuclides
• radiopharmaceuticals
• cancer
• diabetes
• fibrosis
• inflammation
• infection
• neurology
• heart disease
• drug development
• tracers for oncological, cardiological, and neurological Nuclear Medicine
• tracers for infection and inflammation, theranostic tracers/radiopharmaceuticals
• emerging theranostic radionuclides and their upscaling
• PET/CT, PET/MRI, SPECT/CT, optical imaging including fluorescent dye conjugates for image guided surgery, Can we transfer the theranostic concept to the tumor microenvironment
• radiohalogenation methods for fluorine, bromine, iodine, astatine
• radiometalation methods
• emerging complexing agents for radiometalation
• emerging theranostic biological targets
• imaging biomarkers for non-invasive imaging
• providing the radioindicator concept for drug development
• tracers for distinct diseases