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Biotecnología Aplicada
On-line version ISSN 1027-2852
Abstract
CABAL, Carlos; DARIAS, Daniel; GONZALEZ, Evelio and MUSACCHIO, Alexis. Theranostics and Molecular Imaging: New concepts and technologies for drug development. Biotecnol Apl [online]. 2013, vol.30, n.3, pp.172-177. ISSN 1027-2852.
Some of the bases, challenges and expected outputs of the Molecular Magnetic Resonance Imaging and the Theranostics in the near future are presented in this paper. The Molecular Imaging, which evolution in the last years is truly surprising, is becoming a real tool for decreasing the cost and accelerating the stages of drug discovery and development processes. The new Theranostic platforms and the integration of imaging technologies have opened novel and revolutionary opportunities in medicine and biotechnology-based pharmaceutical industries. The strategy of joining therapeutic and imaging agents into one nano platform has the potential to diagnose disease and to treat and monitor the therapeutic response in vivo at molecular level. It simultaneously enhances the control, evaluation and optimization of drug delivery, release and its efficacy. These theranostic formulations are also increasing the Molecular Magnetic Resonance sensibility to some picomoles. Remarkably, it is widely considered that the conjugation of paramagnetic complexes with versatile macromolecules and natural nanostructures is the most important and fastest way to obtain original theranostic formulations. The optimum use and wider applicability of Molecular Imaging relies on the best possible design of the pre-clinical and clinical trials taking into account the imaging technologies from the very same beginning. The complex problem of personalized medicine, combined therapy, and the synchronization of the therapy of choice with diagnosis may find an outstanding solution in the Theranostics approach.
Keywords : theranostics; drug development; molecular imaging.