Marvellous Molecules and Medicines

Despite its rarity in natural products, fluorine is the 13th most abundant element on Earth. Its enhanced chemical reactivity provides a powerful synthetic tool and since the introduction of fludrocortisone into the drug market in 1954, more and more approved pharmaceuticals contain at least one fluorine atom. Additionally, fluorine has been utilized in radiotracers for medical scanning, most notably PET. This talk aims to provide an outlook into medicinal applications within fluorine chemistry and how its incorporation into drug candidates and imaging agents can provide beneficial properties.

Since the advent of insulin therapy in the 1920s, numerous other peptide-based drugs have entered the market as promising treatments for a wide array of diseases. Aside from their use as therapeutics, peptides have emerged as powerful tools for medical research, with applications ranging from clinical diagnostics to the design of new drug delivery platforms. This talk will overview the key developments of peptide science in the pharmaceutical space and discuss the ways in which major obstacles are being addressed as this area of research advances.