Radiopharmaceuticals-to-Go?
"PET will help us with the staging of cancer by showing the extent of disease," said Donald Podoloff, chairman of Nuclear Medicine at M.D. Anderson.
"We are pleased to partner with M.D. Anderson for pursuing new commercial and research opportunities for PET pharmaceuticals," said Mark Rhoads, president and CEO of PETNet.
PET/molecular imaging is a metabolic imaging procedure that illustrates, in radioactive detail, the biological basis for disease, enabling physicians to identify the location and extent of cancer and other disorders. Radiopharmaceuticals such as 18F-labeled deoxyglucose, are administered intravenously to patients who undergo PET scans. Upon entering the body, labeled imaging agents migrate to disease sites where they are metabolized and emit radioactive signals that can be imaged by the PET scanner.
PET radiotracers have an extremely short half-life of less than two hours and must be manufactured in close proximity to PET scanning centers, which gives this entire industry a just-in-time feel. For example, PETNet operates a national network of 15 sites throughout the U.S. that use cyclotrons to manufacture radiopharmaceuticals.
PETNet Pharmaceuticals Services Inc. is a privately held company that manufactures and distributes radiopharmaceutical products and services used in positron emission tomography (PET), an advanced imaging technique for detecting and evaluating cancer, heart disease, and central nervous system disorders. PETNet is the only company to own and operate a regional network of positron radiopharmaceutical manufacturing and distribution units to supply PET imaging centers nationwide.
For more information: Mark Rhoads, PETNet, 810 Innovation Dr., Knoxville, TN 37932. Tel: 865-218-2000. Fax: 865-218-3000.