KENNEWICK, Wash., Jan. 15, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Advanced Medical Isotope Corporation of Kennewick, Wash. (AMIC) (Pink Sheets:ADMD) announced the execution of a five-year agreement with Central Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (CRS) for the joint production and marketing of Indium-111, an isotope used in specialized diagnostic imaging applications. By labeling In-111 to antibodies and peptides that transport it to specific parts of the body, physicians can image colorectal cancer, prostrate cancer, and neuroendocrine tumors. In-111 can also be used to radiolabel white blood cells, platelets and red blood cells for diagnostic purposes.
CRS is an advanced biomedical research and development facility established by the State University of New York at Buffalo. The comprehensive agreement with CRS is designed to enable AMIC to complement production capacity of a variety of high-value medical isotopes with its Kennewick, Wash. headquarters where North America's initial Proton Linear Accelerator (PULSAR) specifically designed for the purpose of PET isotope production will commence production in March 2008.
Dr. Hani A. Nabi, MD., Ph.D., FACNP, President of CRS, Inc. stated, "We look forward to the success of the commercial collaboration between CRS, Inc. and Advanced Medical Isotope Corporation and expect to further develop a reliable, alternate source of radioisotopes for medical use to help satisfy the demands in the U.S." Several other radiochemicals are under consideration for production in the near future at the Buffalo, N.Y. facility.
The agreement with CRS allows for the initial product to be Indium-111, a radioisotope produced from the stable isotope cadmium-112. CRS will provide irradiation facilities as well as production expertise and chemical syntheses. Initial commercial quantities of Indium-111 are expected in second quarter 2008.
Dr. Robert Schenter, AMIC's Chief Science Officer, stated: "This agreement is an outstanding development for AMIC as well as for CRS. AMIC now has isotope production commencing on both the east and west coasts. With the nuclear medicine market growing substansially, with an estimated $7 to $10 billion dollars spent annually in the United States alone, approximately 13% of which represents radioisotopes, AMIC is positioning to become a major factor in the domestic production of radioisotopes."
About Central Radiopharmaceutical Services, Inc.
In 1970, the University at Buffalo established the first centralized radiopharmaceutical distribution service. This service was incorporated as CRS, a not-for-profit, for the purposed of Education and Research in 1986. CRS occupies approximately12,000 sq.ft. of space, which includes a state of the art 30 MeV cyclotron. Today CRS serves over thirty clinical sites, prepares twenty radiopharmaceuticals in house, and distributes ten others, which are purchased from manufacturers in bulk and repackaged for clinical distribution. CRS also makes available to its clinical sites different calibration sources, accessories as well as radiation protection services. The cyclotron facility is capable of irradiating solid targets as well as the traditional gas and liquid targets for PET imaging facilities in Buffalo, Western and Central New York, and Southern Ontario, Canada.
About AMIC
Advanced Medical Isotope Corporation is engaged in the development of advanced production systems and processes for bringing previously unavailable medical isotopes to the marketplace and advancing systems for local product production. The field of nuclear medicine has routinely utilized radioisotopes in the diagnosis of diseases such as cancer in preference to surgical techniques. Advanced Medical Isotope Corporation produces and supplies products to support the accessibility to these less invasive therapeutic processes by advancing systems for lower cost production and improving supply availability of medical isotopes to hospitals and clinical treatment centers. For more information, please visit http://www.isotopia.us