Global Nuclear Medicine/Radiopharmaceuticals Market To Reach $5bn

Research and Markets has published  "Nuclear Medicine/Radiopharmaceuticals [SPECT/PET Radioisotopes (Technetium, F-18)], [Beta/Alpha radiation therapy (I131, Y-90)], [Applications (Cancer/Oncology, Cardiac)] & Stable Isotopes (Deuterium, C-13) Market - Global Trends & Forecast to 2017" 

The global radiopharmaceuticals market was valued at $3.8 billion in 2012 and is poised to reach $5.5 billion by 2017 at a compound annual growth rate of 7.8 percent.

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) estimates that Tc-99m diagnostic procedures are expected to increase by 15 to 20 percent in mature markets such as Europe, North America, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and Oceania between 2010 and 2030. Radiopharmaceuticals in neurological applications such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and dementia are also being preferred by practitioners besides conventional treatment. Upcoming radioisotopes such as Ra-223 (Alpharadin) and Ga-68 possess huge potential for clinical applications. However, the scheduled shutdown of the NRU reactor in 2016 and OSIRIS in France in 2018 is a major threat for manufacturers.

Radioisotopes are being preferred by medical practitioners in oncology, due to minimum or no side effects. The radiopharmaceutical therapy market is expected to grow significantly with the launch of the much-desired Alpharadin (Ra-223) in the near future. This isotope has tremendous potential to take up market share of beta emitters and brachytherapy.