PRESS RELEASE
ENS High Scientific Council Briefing Paper
Unlocking the Potential of Radiopharmaceuticals in Europe – Part 1: Setting the Scene
Brussels, 18th March 2026 — The European Nuclear Society High Scientific Council (HSC) has published a new Briefing Paper titled “Unlocking the Potential of Radiopharmaceuticals in Europe – Part 1: Setting the Scene”, providing a comprehensive overview of the current state, importance, and future potential of nuclear medicine and radiopharmaceuticals in Europe.
Nuclear medicine is one of the pillars of modern healthcare, supporting the diagnosis and treatment of more than 10 million patients in Europe every year. Radiopharmaceuticals play a central role in this field, enabling early detection, targeted therapies, and the development of personalised medicine approaches.
As healthcare systems evolve to meet growing demands and increasing complexity, nuclear medicine is emerging as a strategic component of Europe’s health ecosystem, contributing to improved patient outcomes and more efficient care pathways.
Drawing on scientific expertise and recent technological developments, the ENS High Scientific Council highlights the transformative potential of radiopharmaceuticals across a wide range of medical applications. The Paper outlines key advances in areas such as theranostics, radiochemistry, imaging technologies, and the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
At the same time, the analysis underlines that fully unlocking this potential will require addressing a number of critical challenges. These include technological constraints, regulatory complexity, and vulnerabilities in the supply chain, all of which may impact Europe’s ability to maintain leadership in this field and ensure patient access to essential treatments.
The ENS High Scientific Council stresses that these challenges are not only scientific and industrial in nature, but also strategic for Europe’s health systems, innovation capacity, and long-term resilience.
This publication marks the first in a series of Papers dedicated to radiopharmaceuticals. The next Position Paper will further examine these challenges and propose key actions to support a secure, sustainable, and forward-looking radiopharmaceutical ecosystem in Europe.
The ENS High Scientific Council is composed of scientists of high repute from several European countries and serves as an independent advisory body to the European Nuclear Society on nuclear science and technology and their impact on society.
The European Nuclear Society invite you to download and read the full ENS HSC Briefing Paper,
and explore its analysis of the role of radiopharmaceuticals in Europe’s healthcare landscape.
For press inquiries, interview requests, or more information, please contact the ENS Communications and Project Manager, Mattia Baldoni,
mattia.baldoni@euronuclear.org
