Workshop on: Chemistry of Metals in Medicine - The Industrial Perspective

The Workshop was attended by 61 participants from 20 countries. Most of the speakers were industrialists and the Chairpersons and Discussion Leaders were academics. The area “Chemistry of Metals in Medicine” has the potential for producing innovative, high quality, and original research. This is a new and emerging area of biomedical chemistry. Small firms are already being established which are devoted to the new elemental medicine. Major pharmaceutical and healthcare industries too are becoming aware of the major impact which metal chemistry is likely to have on traditional organic pharmacology and of the new opportunities which it presents for advances including the development of metalloenzyme-specific inhibitors, targeted radionuclide complexes for diagnosis and therapy, contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging, safer mineral and vitamin supplements, new agents for the treatment of neurological, gastrointestinal and cardiovascular disease, skin conditions, cancer, and microbial and viral infections. The European scientific and technological research base in this area is potentially attractive for business. Industrial collaboration and cooperation can be accommodated within the COST framework.