Siemens expands Indian medical radioisotope production
Siemens has established a plant in Chennai, southeastern India, for the production of medical radioisotopes for use in PET-CT scanners and plans to add a further four or five such facilities across the country over the next two years.
Siemens has established a plant in Chennai, southeastern India, for the production of medical radioisotopes for use in PET-CT scanners and plans to add a further four or five such facilities across the country over the next two years.
The new facility in Chennai, Tamil Nadu state, houses a Siemens Eclipse HP cyclotron which will initially be used for the manufacture of fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) - the imaging biomarker used in PET scanners. Siemens said the new facility will enable the healthcare providers in and around the city to access the PET-CT (Positron Emission Tomography - Computed Tomography) technology for diagnosis of patients with life-threatening diseases such as cancer, as well as cardiac and neuro diseases.
The company is finalizing locations for additional facilities and has initiated the approval process from the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB). Each plant will cost some $3-4 million.
D Ragavan, executive vice president of Siemens Medical Solutions India, told the Economic Times: "They will have the capacity to manufacture other radiopharm products used in Alzheimer's disease, stem cell and cardiac treatment which are under global clinical trials."
He added, "Since radiopharmaceuticals tend to lose their potency very rapidly, we need to make them closer to the hospitals. We plan to set up at least one facility in each geographical region." FDG has a half-life of only 110 minutes and hence needs to be produced locally.
Siemens believes that its strategy to make medical radioisotopes in India will help reduce the cost of nuclear medicine and expand its reach to a wider community. There are currently some 20 PET-CT scan machines in India, of which Siemens has supplied 9 or 10, costing between $2 and $3 million each.
Ragavan commented, "The potential for PET-CT scan machines is huge in India and we expect demand for nearly 200 units. We expect to sell at least 20 such machines every year. The potential is huge since every year nearly one million people are diagnosed with cancer. Typically, each cancer patient will be required to undertake PET-CT twice."
