Merck continues to lay the groundwork for its upcoming introductionof Fosamax, a new drug for the treatment of osteoporosis. TheWest Point, PA, drug company has entered into an agreement withCompuMed to license that company's OsteoGram test for
Merck continues to lay the groundwork for its upcoming introductionof Fosamax, a new drug for the treatment of osteoporosis. TheWest Point, PA, drug company has entered into an agreement withCompuMed to license that company's OsteoGram test for measuringbone density.
Merck is close to receiving Food and Drug Administration approvalfor Fosamax, which is expected to give a lift to the bone densitometrymarket. In June the company signed agreements with Lunar and Hologicto provide financial assistance for physicians who wish to purchasedensitometry scanners from those firms (SCAN 7/6/95).
The agreement with CompuMed of Manhattan Beach, CA, complementsthose deals by extending Merck's influence over another methodof measuring bone density. OsteoGram enables physicians to usestandard x-ray equipment to detect low bone mass using a techniquecalled radiographic absorptiometry.
Under the terms of the deal, Merck will receive exclusive worldwiderights to OsteoGram in exchange for paying licensing fees androyalties to CompuMed on all OsteoGram tests performed over afive-year period.
Merck will also operate on a nonprofit basis OsteoGram AnalysisCenter, which performs computer analyses as part of the OsteoGramtest. The center will be operated by Merck's nonprofit Bone MeasurementInstitute.
Study: AI Boosts Ultrasound AUC for Predicting Thyroid Malignancy Risk by 34 Percent Over TI-RADS
February 17th 2025In a study involving assessment of over 1,000 thyroid nodules, researchers found the machine learning model led to substantial increases in sensitivity and specificity for estimating the risk of thyroid malignancy over traditional TI-RADS and guidelines from the American Thyroid Association.
Can CT-Based AI Provide Automated Detection of Colorectal Cancer?
February 14th 2025For the assessment of contrast-enhanced abdominopelvic CT exams, an artificial intelligence model demonstrated equivalent or better sensitivity than radiologist readers, and greater than 90 percent specificity for the diagnosis of colorectal cancer.
Emerging PET/CT Agent Shows Promise in Detecting PCa Recurrence in Patients with Low PSA Levels
February 13th 202518F-DCFPyL facilitated detection of recurrent prostate cancer in 51 percent of patients with PSA levels ranging between 0.2 to 0.5 ng/ml, according to new research presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology Genitourinary Cancers (ASCO-GU) Symposium.