Supramolecular Agents as Radiotheranostic Drugs

From diagnostic applications in the quantification and characterisation of biomarker expression in cancer patients, through to molecularly targeted radionuclide therapy, radiopharmaceuticals are at the frontline of modern personalised medicine. The radical long-term vision of SMARTdrugs is to harness the untapped potential of supramolecular chemistry to create a new class of therapies – radiotheranostics – which combine both diagnostic and therapeutic radionuclides in one compound. By using the self-assembly of host-guest supramolecular coordination complexes and molecularly interlocked molecules as scaffolds for creating supramolecular radiotheranostic drugs, new methods for radiotheranostic synthesis that break away from conventional medicinal chemistry concept will be introduced. SMARTdrugs will establish a proof-of-concept demonstrating the utility of non-covalent systems in the design of multifunctional radiotheranostic agents with tailored pharmacokinetics, and their application in challenging drug-delivery scenarios including targeted delivery to cancers of the lung and brain.