Radiopharmaceuticals and proton therapy: nuclear power is the new frontier of precision medicine

"Nuclear technologies applied to medicine are radically changing the way in which we approach the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of diseases. From the production of increasingly precise radiopharmaceuticals to proton therapy and digital platforms that integrate images, clinical data and predictive models, we are facing a new frontier of precision medicine," Health Minister Orazio Schillaci reflected in a message sent to the conference "Nuclear for Health - Scenarios of scientific and technological innovation in the pharmaceutical, biomedical and advanced healthcare sectors", promoted in Bari by the ITEL Group with the aim of encouraging a debate between institutions, regulatory bodies, the scientific community, the clinical world and industry on the prospects for the use of nuclear power in medicine and the value of a shared national strategy for the development of the sector.

"Italy,' continues Schillaci, 'can count on excellence recognised throughout the world, in the network of IRCCSs, universities, and public and private research centres. The task of the institutions is to enhance these skills and create the conditions for research to become concrete innovation in clinical practice, through targeted investments, specialist training, and a regulatory system capable of accompanying progress, not hindering it. In this perspective, the collaboration between science, industry, and the health system is strategic'. For the minister, 'only by combining resources, knowledge, and visions can we transform technology into real benefits for people and make our national health service increasingly strong, fair, and close to citizens'.

Nuclear pharma is a fast-growing frontier and a strategic segment of the global pharma industry: EHRA - Enhanced Radiotherapy with HAdrons - emerges in Italy, a project that sees the ITEL Group engaged in the laboratories of the Apulian headquarters of the spin-off Linearbeam for the realisation and certification of the first protontherapy system based on a linear accelerator: a unique technology at world level, which is preparing to revolutionise the approach to oncological treatments and which represents a technological and scientific challenge of the made in Italy, recognised at global level.

Also active in Italy is the National Consortium for Innovation and Development of Radiopharmaceuticals, promoted by Itelpharma on the private side with the University of Pavia as lead partner on the public side, an integrated network for radiopharmaceuticals, which aims at research, development and innovation programmes in oncology, advanced diagnostics and theragnostic therapies, with 5 operational hubs and 11 partners throughout Italy.

"The nuclear sector applied to health is a strategic frontier for the future of medicine and for Italy's technological sovereignty. It is an area in which our country possesses extraordinary skills, ranging from applied physics to radiopharmacy, and from engineering to clinical medicine. Systematising these skills means generating value for the community, strengthening Italy's role on the international scientific and industrial scene.