Radiopharmacology 

is the study and preparation of radiopharmaceuticals, which

are radioactive pharmaceuticals. Radiopharmaceuticals are used in the field of nuclear
medicine as tracers in the diagnosis and treatment of many diseases. Many
radiopharmaceuticals usetechnetium-99m (Tc-99m) which has many useful properties as a
gamma-emitting tracer nuclide. In the book Technetium a total of 31 different
radiopharmaceuticals based on Tc-99m are listed for imaging and functional studies of
the brain, myocardium, thyroid, lungs, liver,gallbladder, kidneys, skeleton, blood and tumors.[1]

The term radioisotope has historically been used to refer to all radiopharmaceuticals, and this
usage remains common. Technically, however, many radiopharmaceuticals incorporate a
radioisotope atom into a larger pharmaceutically-active molecule which is localized in the body,
after which the tracer atom allows it to be easily detected. An example is fludeoxyglucose in
which fluorine-18 is incorporated into deoxyglucose. Some radioisotopes (for example gallium-
67, gallium-68, and radioiodine) are used directly as soluble ionic salts, without further
modification. This use relies on the chemical and biological properties of the radioisotope itself,
to localize it within the body.

Sample companies database include:

. Novartis Pharma AG

. Molecular Insight Pharmaceuticals, Inc

. NeoRx Corporation

. Schering AG

. Amersham International plc

. Aradigm Corporation

. Endocyte, Inc

. F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd

. Genentech Inc

. Immunomedics, Inc

. Molecular NeuroImaging, LLC

. Pfizer Inc