The identification of molecular drivers of disease and the compelling rise of
biotherapeutics such as peptides, monoclonal antibodies, antibody fragments and nontraditional
binding scaffolds, activatable antibodies, bispecific antibodies,
immunocytokines, antibody-drug conjugates, enzymes, polynucleotides, therapeutic
cells as well as alternative drug carriers like nanoparticles have impacted clinical care
but also came with challenges. Drug development is expensive, attrition rates are high,
and efficacy rates are lower than desired. Nowadays, almost all these drugs, which
generally have a long residence time in the body, can be stably labeled with 89Zr for
whole body PET imaging and quantification. Although not restricted to monoclonal
antibodies, this approach is called 89Zr-immuno-PET. This contribution summarizes at
a high level the historical background, the technical aspects, and the future perspectives
of 89Zr-immuno-PET.
Keywords: 89Zr-immuno-PET, Antibody-drug Conjugates, Biopharmaceuticals, Companion Diagnostics, Complementary Diagnostics, Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors, Kalevi Kairemo, Monoclonal Antibodies, Radioimmunotherapy.
