MDS partners to develop new medical imaging tracer

MDS Nordion is collaborating with two French firms to develop new positron emission tomography (PET) radiotracers for cancer diagnostics using Gallium-68. The project between Guerbet (a pharmaceutical firm wholly dedicated to medical imaging) and Cyceron (a public research organization backed by several French research institutes) has the full support Eureka, an massive intergovernmental initiative aimed an enhancing European competitiveness. Each organization will bring its own scientific resources and in-kind contributions to the project. Both Guerbet and Cyceron are receiving major public financing for the venture to determine whether Ga-68 can be added to the imaging tools being used by clinicians. Eureka's backing was critical in the French firms receiving national public and private financing. Ga-68 is considered to have major potential as an emerging isotope for the development of new diagnostic tracers. It can be produced from a small generator rather than directly from a cyclotron….