Siemens to Launch PETNET Services in India
March 26 2008 - 12:00PM
PR Newswire (US)
Molecular Imaging Biomarker Production Facility to Enable
Healthcare Providers Access to PET Technology HOFFMAN ESTATES,
Ill., March 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Siemens Healthcare
(http://www.siemens.com/healthcare) today announced its first
molecular imaging biomarker production facility in Chennai, India.
The new facility will enable the healthcare providers in and around
Chennai to access the positron emission tomography-computed
tomography (PET-CT) technology to diagnose patients with
life-threatening diseases, such as cancer and cardiac and
neurological ailments. With this facility, Siemens makes another
investment in strengthening critical healthcare infrastructure in
the country to elevate the level of available healthcare services.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070904/SIEMENSLOGO )
PETNET Solutions, a fully owned subsidiary of Siemens Medical
Solutions USA, Inc., operates the largest PET radiopharmacy network
with 49 radiopharmacies and distribution centers in the U.S., Korea
and the United Kingdom that produce and distribute PET
radiopharmaceuticals to hospitals, clinics, and research facilities
for PET imaging. The new facility in Chennai will produce and
supply the required radiopharmaceuticals to hospitals that have
positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT)
facilities, which will help ease the burden of healthcare providers
to produce their own radiopharmaceuticals. As a result, the new
facility will also help reduce the cost of nuclear medicine and
expand its reach to a wider community. The new facility will
feature a Siemens Eclipse(TM) HP cyclotron and will be Siemens'
first molecular imaging biomarker production facility in India. The
Eclipse cyclotron will be deployed to manufacture
fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG), the imaging biomarker used in PET-CT
facilities to assist with diagnosis and staging of disease
processes and to monitor cellular response to treatments, such as
chemotherapy and radiotherapy. "As advancements in molecular
imaging move forward, it is imperative that this technology is made
available to everyone in order to better diagnose and treat
life-threatening diseases," said Michael Reitermann, chief
executive officer, Molecular Imaging, Siemens Healthcare. Being
able to offer this PET technology to the residents of Chennai and
the surrounding community is a giant step in making this dream a
reality." Currently, there is no PET-CT in the Indian state of
Tamil Nadu due to a critical lack of F18-FDG, which has a half-life
of only 110 minutes (losing half of its radioactivity every 110
minutes) and, hence, cannot be imported or transported long
distances. The new cyclotron will guarantee reliable delivery of
PET radiopharmaceuticals and will vastly increase availability of
FDG, which means that many more patients in Chennai and nearby
areas will have access to world-class PET-CT imaging. For cancer
patients, this will allow for earlier lesion detection and
differential diagnosis of primary cancers, which is important for
treatment and disease management. Speaking on this initiative,
Dhandapany Ragavan, head, Siemens Medical Solutions, India, said,
"In India, over 1 million people are diagnosed with cancer every
year. There is a growing need among the healthcare providers to
access the latest technology in fighting this life-threatening
disease. We are proud to be pioneers in bringing this life-saving
technology to India through our world-renowned PETNET Solutions.
This technology helps characterize the biology of disease in
individual patients and helps to drive the development and use of
more effective personalized treatments. Apart from Chennai, we are
also considering expanding this network to other parts of the
country." About Siemens Healthcare Siemens Healthcare is one of the
world's largest suppliers to the healthcare industry. The company
is a renowned medical solutions provider with core competence and
innovative strength in diagnostic and therapeutic technologies as
well as in knowledge engineering, including information technology
and system integration. With its laboratory diagnostics
acquisitions, Siemens Healthcare is the first fully integrated
diagnostics company, bringing together imaging and lab diagnostics,
therapy, and healthcare information technology solutions,
supplemented by consulting and support services. Siemens Healthcare
delivers solutions across the entire continuum of care -- from
prevention and early detection, to diagnosis, therapy and care. The
company employs more than 48,000 people worldwide and operates in
130 countries. In the fiscal year 2007 (Sept. 30), Siemens
Healthcare reported sales of euro 9.85 billion, orders of euro
10.27 billion, and group profit of euro 1.32 billion. Further
information can be found by visiting
http://www.siemens.com/healthcare . About Siemens Ltd. Siemens Ltd.
is the flagship listed company in India. Siemens in India, which
comprises of 19 legal entities, is a leading provider of industry
and infrastructure solutions with a business volume aggregating
about Rs 11,000 crores. It operates in the core business segments
of Energy, Industry Transportation, Healthcare, Information
Technology, Communication and Lighting. It has nation-wide Sales
and Service network, 18 manufacturing plants, some 500 strong
network of channel partners and employs over 18,000 people.
DATASOURCE: Siemens Healthcare CONTACT: Tom Schaffner of Siemens
Healthcare, +1-610-448-1477, or Web site:
http://www.usa.siemens.com/medical
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