Shipments of Spectamine were interrupted at a most inopportunetime. Just as clinical demand for single-photon emission computedtomography brain agents was beginning to pick up, supplier IMPhas been forced to seek financial and manufacturing partners
Shipments of Spectamine were interrupted at a most inopportunetime. Just as clinical demand for single-photon emission computedtomography brain agents was beginning to pick up, supplier IMPhas been forced to seek financial and manufacturing partners toresurrect Spectamine. Contract production of the agent was shutdown by Medi-Physics this year after IMP of Schaumburg, IL, couldn'tpay the bills (SCAN 6/17/92).
Iodine-labeled Spectamine is one of only two SPECT brain radiopharmaceuticalsapproved by the Food and Drug Administration. The other, technetium-taggedCeretec, is manufactured by Medi-Physics' parent Amersham. A secondtechnetium brain agent, Du Pont's Neurolite, will likely be thenext agent to hit the U.S. market.
Although neurological multidetector SPECT cameras have beenaround for seven or eight years, most SPECT imaging activity hasbeen on the cardiac side. Demand for brain SPECT cameras has beenincreasing of late, however, as clinical experience with the agentsgrows.
"The first three-head camera was shown in 1985. Now, in1992, people are actually buying the three-head. They are buyingit for the promise of neurology," said James L. Besett, generalmanager of Picker International's nuclear medicine division.
Developments of neurological therapies are also stimulatingthe brain SPECT market, said IMP president James F. Lamb. Therapeuticagents for stroke and Alzheimer's disease, for instance, are inclinical trials. The nuclear medicine market will benefit fromthe need to monitor and evaluate these therapies, he said.
Other forces driving the market are advances in psychiatry,where drugs are already approved, and increased use of brain SPECTin trauma applications, Lamb said.
The Reading Room Podcast: Current Perspectives on the Updated Appropriate Use Criteria for Brain PET
March 18th 2025In a new podcast, Satoshi Minoshima, M.D., Ph.D., and James Williams, Ph.D., share their insights on the recently updated appropriate use criteria for amyloid PET and tau PET in patients with mild cognitive impairment.
Meta-Analysis Shows Merits of AI with CTA Detection of Coronary Artery Stenosis and Calcified Plaque
April 16th 2025Artificial intelligence demonstrated higher AUC, sensitivity, and specificity than radiologists for detecting coronary artery stenosis > 50 percent on computed tomography angiography (CTA), according to a new 17-study meta-analysis.