KENNEWICK, Wash., Feb. 28, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- James Katzaroff, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Advanced Medical Isotope Corporation (OTCBB:ADMD), a company engaged in the production and distribution of medical isotopes, has signed an option agreement with Battelle Memorial Institute, operator of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) for rights to an injectable "Radiogel" for High-dose Interstitial Radiation Therapy. Upon exercise of the option and execution of an exclusive license with Battelle, AMIC will have the exclusive right to further develop the technology, which is a microsphere-embedded, injectable polymer solution designed to maximize the radiation dose to cancerous tumors that cannot be removed surgically.
Jim Katzaroff, Chief Executive Officer, commented: "We have a strong relationship with Battelle and look forward to advancing the innovative Radiogel over the next year. By carefully formulating a radioisotope carrier having properties that allow both uniform tissue perfusion and gelation for effective containment, combined with a readily available and reasonably priced radionuclide, we expect to achieve a therapeutic agent that provides physicians with the ability to treat tumors that cannot be removed surgically or that cannot be treated by any other means."
AMIC's Radiogel system would include an injectable, water-based polymer that delivers yttrium-90 microspheres directly into tumor tissues. Quickly after injection, the solution warms to body temperature and polymerizes—trapping the yttrium-90 microspheres in place. High-energy beta particles from yttrium-90 efficiently irradiate cancer cells within the targeted volume, but very little radiation escapes. This feature maximizes the overall radiation dose to cancer cells while minimizing radiation dose and associated side-effects in nearby normal tissues.
The injectable radiogel may be administered percutaneously or intraoperatively for treating solid tumors that cannot be removed safely by surgical excision, such as inoperable liver cancer, brain tumors, head and neck tumors, kidney tumors, and pancreatic cancer, among others. Levels of activity may be adjusted upward to treat radiation-resistant solid tumors that may not respond well to conventional external-beam therapy.
Yttrium-90 is a well-established medical isotope with many similar applications in cancer treatment. The combination of insoluble yttrium-90 microspheres and the radiogel carrier provides an opportunity to deliver maximally achievable therapeutic indices at low cost.
The polymer solution is intended to form a sterile, biodegradable, and non-toxic carrier. Immediately after injection, the polymer undergoes a temperature-stimulated phase transition from liquid to solid, with lattice formation, that physically contains the yttrium-90 microspheres and inhibits redistribution away from the injection site.
About Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is a U.S. Department of Energy national laboratory in Richland, Wash. where interdisciplinary teams advance science and technology and deliver solutions to America's most intractable problems in energy, the environment and national security. PNNL employs 4,900 staff, has an annual budget of nearly $1.1 billion, and has been managed by Ohio-based Battelle since the Lab's inception in 1965.
About Battelle
Battelle is the world's largest, independent research and development organization. Headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, Battelle oversees 22,000 employees in more than 130 locations worldwide, including the U.S. Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Wash.
About Advanced Medical Isotope Corporation
Advanced Medical Isotope Corporation (OTCBB:ADMD) is a company engaged in the production and distribution of medical isotopes for advanced diagnostic and non-surgical therapeutic application. AMIC's goal is to empower physicians, medical researchers, and ultimately patients by providing them with essential medical isotopes that, until recently, have not been feasible or economical, in an effort to detect and cure human disease. For more information, please visit our website, www.isotopeworld.com
The Advanced Medical Isotope Corporation logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=5139
Safe Harbor Statement
The information posted in this release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. You can identify these statements by the use of the words "may", "will", "should", "plans", "expects", "anticipates", "continue", "estimates", "projects", "intends", and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause results to differ materially from those projected or anticipated. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, general economic and business conditions, effects of continued geopolitical unrest and regional conflicts, competition, changes in technology and methods of marketing, delays in completing various engineering and manufacturing programs, changes in customer order patterns, changes in product mix, continued success in technical advances and delivering technological innovations, shortages in components, production delays due to performance quality issues with outsourced components, government agency rules and changes, and various other factors beyond the Company's control.