Collaboration to Advance Molecular Imaging Technology

A collaboration to develop a cost-effective, readily accessible molecular imaging technology that can help more clinics and hospitals diagnose cancer has been announced by Philips Medical Systems (Best, The Netherlands) and CellPoint, L.L.C. (Englewood, CO, USA).

The collaboration will combine Cellpoint's novel diagnostic imaging agent and the nuclear medicine camera of Philips to make functional imaging readily available. The agreement will utilize CellPoint's ethylenedicysteine drug conjugate technology (EC technology), a delivery system that links tissue-specific ligands (hormones, proteins, peptides) or pharmaceutical compounds to radioisotopes for cancer diagnosis and treatment. Using clinical trial data, Philips will further develop and refine imaging techniques for SKYlight, its gantry-free nuclear camera, to determine requirements for the highest possible image quality and quantitative information about patients' disease.

The companies will collaborate on CellPoint's first imaging agent, Tc-99m-EC-deoxyglucose. EC technology allows the deoxyglucose to be labeled with the radioisotope technetium-99m (Tc-99m). The agent will target tumors, while single positron emission computed tomography (SPECT) cameras will image them, including Philips' nuclear medicine cameras. Tumors absorb more glucose than surrounding tissue, so when a cancer patient is injected with this chemically linked agent, active tumors will absorb both the glucose and the radioisotope.

"Philips has outstanding SPECT technology, and we're thrilled to strategically align ourselves with them to help advance molecular imaging agents, enabling more facilities to conduct cancer screening,” said Greg Colip, CEO of CellPoint. The company obtained the worldwide license to EC technology from the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center (Houston, USA).




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