Syncor expands PET market presence

Radiopharmaceutical firm Syncor signed an agreement with Advanced Isotope to be the exclusive distributor for Advanced Isotope’s fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) radioisotope used for PET.

FDG will be produced by two new Advanced Isotope cyclotron facilities in two Florida cities—Ft. Lauderdale and Ontario. Both new centers are set to open within three months.

Nashville-based Advanced Isotope produces the FDG used in the GE PET trace cyclotron system.

This agreement strengthens Syncor’s position in the PET market, said Robert Funari, Syncor’s president and CEO. The Woodland Hills, CA-based company has distribution agreements with PETNet Pharmaceutical Service, Massachusetts General Hospital, the University of Southern California, and the University of Texas.

In addition, Syncor, Isorad, and Sorec NRC, a branch of the Israeli government, will create an FDG production center to manufacture and distribute FDG in Israel. The use of PET in medical imaging is becoming more widely accepted because of increasing governmental approval.

In another example of that growing acceptance, Comprehensive Medical Imaging, A Syncor subsidiary, operates 43 PET imaging centers in Florida, Arizona, and Southern California. This year, CMI will open a new PET imaging center in Rancho Mirage, CA. Desert PET, as the facility will be called, will focus on CT and MR studies for cancer patients.

Syncor has received 510(k) clearance from the Food and Drug Administration for its palladium-103 seeds. The seeds are for use in treating localized prostate cancer (SCAN 2/2/00).