NASI, Theseus announce technical milestone

North American Scientific and Theseus Imaging reported that clinical trials of Theseus’ Apomate kit have shown the agent to be effective in the noninvasive imaging of apoptosis, or cell death, associated with cardiac transplant rejection. The kit has been used in nuclear medicine procedures in more than 3500 hospitals across the U.S.

Patients who undergo heart transplants can have up to 15 catheterization procedures during the first year after the surgery to evaluate the immunosuppression medication’s effectiveness, according to the two companies. Theseus hopes Apomate will contribute equivalent information noninvasively by imaging the functional changes that occur when the body rejects an organ.

North American and Theseus signed a merger agreement in October, which is subject to final due diligence, according to Chatsworth, CA-based NASI. Theseus develops radiopharmaceutical products for in vivo medical imaging.