In Eastern Finland, the status of PET imaging as a medical imaging method has increased significantly over the past three years. PET imaging is based on very short-lived positron-emitting isotopes which can only be commercially sourced elsewhere. PET imaging is important in the diagnosis of diseases of major public health importance such as central nervous system diseases, cancers and cadiovascular diseases, as well as in innovative research and development related to the treatment of these diseases, which have also traditionally been the region’s top international health sciences. The project aims to build the infrastructure for PET radiopharmaceutical production in the Kuopio region so that we can locally produce all short-lived radiopharmaceuticals needed for PET imaging that previously could not be used in the area. This enables a completely new type of clinical and pre-clinical development with diseases of major public health significance and supports research and education at Kuopio University Hospital and University of Eastern Finland. In particular, the project strengthens the health cluster that conducts pharmaceutical development in the region and serves more extensively the PET imaging of Eastern and Northern Finland through contract deliveries. The overall objective of the project is to create a permanent infrastructure for the pharmaceutical development, research and innovation environment of PET imaging in Eastern Finland. This will be achieved through project sub-projects kautta:Osaprojektit 1, 2: Definition and purchase of radio-pharmaceutical equipment to be procuredPart 3, 4: The installation and validated commissioning project of equipment and cyclotron is carried out in close cooperation between KYS, the University of Eastern Finland and local companies. Cooperation will ensure that PET radiopharmaceutical production is not only available to healthcare, but also supports the entire pharmaceutical development chain in the region. As a result of the project, there will be a permanent infrastructure for the production and development of radiopharmaceuticals in Eastern Finland.- The T&K&I environment based on PET imaging will be created for the operators in the region (KYS, UEF, as a permanent activity (average lifetime of investments >20 years), the regional effectiveness of own radio medicine production is very significant for Eastern Finland’s profiling as a high-level centre of expertise in life sciences, medicine and medical physics. The use of short-lived radiopharmaceuticals through this project strongly supports the development and research of innovative medicines and personalised medicine in the region by, among other things, enabling more accurate, individualised treatment plans. My own radiopharmaceutical production makes it possible to carry out imaging that supports the entire stages of drug development in Kuopio: identification of the mechanisms of disease generation (metabolism), development of new drug molecules (molecular biology and drug chemistry), development of the method of administration of the drug (pharmaceutical kinetics) and evaluation of the effectiveness of medicines. Already in Kuopio, PET imaging has been used as part of the region’s unique technology expertise, virus-based gene therapy, assessing its effectiveness. Much of this demanding imaging has to be done in Turku because there are no short-lived radio drugs required for imaging in Kuopio. The Pharmaceutical Act, which was renewed at the beginning of this year, enables radio medicine production for Eastern and Northern Finland as a contract delivery between so-called hospital pharmacies, improving the PET imaging capabilities of Eastern and Northern Finland. The new Pharmaceutical Act also enables the use of short-lived radio drugs produced in Kuopio as part of a pharmaceutical research (phase 1-3). This makes Kuopio a very attractive business area for pharmaceutical development. Currently, the corresponding research and development environment can only be found in Turku.