by
Lauren Dubinsky, Senior Reporter | June 17, 2016
From the June 2016 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine
Prevent cardiac death
Iodine-123-MIBG is a newer SPECT radiopharmaceutical that is showing promise in risk stratifying patients with heart failure. Dr. Garima Sharma, a nuclear cardiologist at Johns Hopkins, has firsthand experience with its benefits. “Risk stratifying patients in a better manner can [help us] give patients better medication or a defibrillator and follow them closely to prevent cardiac death,” she says.
Many medical centers in the Midwest have conducted studies using Iodine-123-MIBG. They are trying to determine if they can reduce the need for implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) in heart failure patients by predicting if they have high sympathetic activity in their heart. (See “Defibrillators: technological advancements are fueling this market segment” at dotmed.com/news/30446.)
A new PET enzyme for radiation therapy planning is currently in the works, but it may take a few years for it to come to market. The reasons it’s taking so long are the lack of reimbursement for PET/CT in radiation therapy, and because PET and CT are performed in different parts of the hospital. However, the demand for those procedures is so high that the reimbursement rate will improve in the years to come, says Jamie Dildy, clinical analyst at MD Buyline.
New 70 MeV cyclotron in town
In September 2015, Zevacor installed the only commercial 70 MeV cyclotron dedicated to medical use in the U.S. The company’s goal is to stabilize the domestic supply of medical isotopes including Strontium-82 for use in the diagnosis of cardiovascular disease. “It’s an interesting space for us because there are all of these population dynamics that we see now as people get older, heavier and tend to get heart disease,” says Webner.
“The biggest challenge for cardiac PET, when you look at the Rubidium generator platform in general, is that there are raw material supply constraints.” Bracco Diagnostics, which generates Rubidium- 82 using Strontium-82, has a shortage of Strontium-82 because the company has consumed all of it. Zevacor is planning on producing an abundant supply of it to support Bracco along with other generator manufacturers when they come online, as well as the U.S. Department of Energy.
The Cyclone 70P was developed by Ion Beam Application and is a high-power proton cyclotron with variable proton acceleration in the energy range of 30 to 70 MeV. The facility that houses the cyclotron is in Noblesville, Indiana, and includes a production center, research and development space, and offices for the staff.
