AMIC Signs Milestone Agreement with University of Missouri
6/30/2008
Intellectual Property Expected to Generate Clinically Relevant Quantities of Molybdenum 99(Mo-99)
KENNEWICK, WA, June 30, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE)—Advanced Medical Isotope Corporation (“AMIC”) (Other OTC: ADMD.PK)-News) (http:www.isotopeworld.com), a company engaged in the production and distribution of medical isotopes, has entered into an agreement for the development of a compact device to produce radioisotopes with the University of Missouri (MU).
The University of Missouri holds intellectual property for a system than can generate clinically relevant quantities of radioisotopes (including Mo-99), the production of which normally requires a nuclear reactor. This can be done in a “sub-critical system” (technically and legally not a nuclear reactor, thus avoiding significant and costly regulations) with an infrastructure footprint similar to a commercial cyclotron facility. The partnership between MU and AMIC allows for a staged development of such a system to produce medical, research, and industrial isotopes. MU currently holds intellectual property for a device that generates neutrons in a tank filled with heavy water and fissile uranium material. Current simple models indicate that at least 500 curies (Ci) of Mo-99 would be available from such a system after a one week period of operation, and the potential exists for even higher production levels. More extensive modeling and simulations are necessary, however, to confirm this possibility. Significant quantities of other useful radioisotopes, such as various radio-iodines and radioactive xenon, are expected to be generated as well.
According to projections by the National Academy of Sciences, the United States requires at least 5000 Ci of Mo-99 each week to meet current demands and demand is expected to grow at a minimum of 5-10% in the coming years. The radioisotope that is the active ingredient in the vast bulk of imaging radiopharmaceuticals in the USA is Tc-99m, a short-lived isotope derived from Mo-99. The Tc-99m that comes from Mo-99 is used in approximately 80-85% percent of the world’s diagnostic imaging procedures, almost thirteen million procedures a year- an estimated thirty-five thousand times each day in the United States. The size of the global nuclear imaging and therapeutics is estimated at $3.7 billion per year.
“This proposed device is a response to the limitations of the current model of production and delivery of radioisotopes that require neutrons to either create fission products or to irradiate stable targets,” Dr. Robert Schenter, Chief Science Officer for AMIC. “The high neutron fluxes needed to generate significant amounts of radioactive material have historically required a large research or test reactor-burdened by the overhead, infrastructure and regulatory expense inherent in such a facility”.
James C. Katzaroff, CEO and Chairman said “Since every curie of Mo-99 used in medical diagnosis in the United States is currently provided by a foreign supplier, we have a strong moral imperative here at AMIC to assist the United States in becoming independent for the production of critical health care needs. Retail prices of Mo-99 are $200 per Ci and higher, with the total retail market for Mo-99 in the USA to be over $1 million per week. The weekly Mo-99 production from a device such as this would be approximately 500 Ci, providing $100,000 worth of Mo-99 each week at that price. Further, the proposed device creates the potential to rapidly move into high-demand markets with a network of radioisotope production facilities to meet growing world demand.”
About Advanced Medical Isotope Corporation
Advanced Medical Isotope Corporation (AMIC) is a medical isotope production company engaged in the production and distribution of medical isotopes and medical isotope in vivo delivery systems 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 now, have not been feasible or economical, in an effort to detect and cure human disease. For more information, please visit our website, http://www.isotopeworld.com
About the University of Missouri
The University of Missouri (MU) is home to over 28,000 students and offers 19 schools and colleges and more than 270 degree programs and over the past decade has performed over $2 billion in research. Research at MU has a $440 million impact on the state of Missouri and supports over 9,000 jobs. The University is also home to the MU Research Reactor (MURR), the largest research reactor operated by a university in the United States. MURR is a worldwide leader in the production of radioisotopes for research, industry and radiopharmaceutical applications and serves as a test-bed for physics testing and therapeutic studies that require high-intensity neutron beams. MURR is part of a public-private partnership which has built a facility to house a cyclotron for the production of PET isotopes and provide a facility for production of research isotopes. This will allow MU to supply a much-needed isotope to area medical centers for use in diagnosing and treating cancer and heart disease as well as expanding the types of radioisotopes available to university scientists.
Contact:
Advanced Medical Isotope Corporation
James C. Katzaroff
509-736-4000
The Investor Relations Group
Erika Moran
Lynn Granito
Steven Melfi
212-825-3210
http://biz.yahoo.com/pz/080630/145539.html
