Equipment follows MoAb progress

With approval of monoclonal antibody-based radiopharmaceuticalsproceeding faster in Europe than in the U.S., market prospectsfor equipment using these targeted nuclear medicine agents arealso more immediate in that region.

Care Wise Medical Products of Morgan Hill, CA, developer ofthe OncoProbe intraoperative nuclear probe, is lining up Europeandistributors for its product, according to Louis A. McKellar,executive vice president.

OncoProbe's primary use is in guiding surgeons to ovarian andcolorectal tumors. The company expects to benefit from Cytogen'sprogress over the last two months in gaining national approvalsfor its colorectal cancer monoclonal agent, OncoScint CR103, inGermany, Luxembourg, Holland and Great Britain.

The Princeton, NJ, biotechnology firm also plans to apply shortlyfor ovarian cancer imaging applications of OncoScint in Europe(SCAN 11/20/91).

In addition to Cytogen, monoclonal antibody agents for colorectaland other applications have been developed by Behring Werke, asubsidiary of Frankfurt-based Hoechst AG. These agents have receivedfavorable reports from European clinicians, McKellar said.

Although OncoProbe is purchased by surgeons, nuclear medicinephysicians are often closely involved in recommending the productand training other physicians and nurses in its use with monoclonalimaging agents, McKellar said. The patient is scanned with a nuclearmedicine camera prior to surgery to localize tumors, so nuclearmedicine physicians actually see a rise in their workload withuse of the probe.

"Nuclear medicine physicians are usually very helpfulin saying which surgeons we should talk to first. They have the(monoclonal) antibodies. When they understand our probe, theyusually push the use of it with imaging agents and the use ofthe gamma camera beforehand. We make their product look better,"McKellar said.

Care Wise has hired an agent to arrange national distributorsin Europe. The company has initiated talks with parties in theU.K., Italy and Germany, he said.