NORTHRIDGE, CA--(Marketwire - December 15, 2009) - Gamma Medica-Ideas, Inc. ("GMI"), a leading
developer of digital molecular imaging systems, announced today that it has
signed an exclusive license and commercialization agreement with Mayo
Clinic to further develop and commercialize a suite of technologies
invented by a team of Mayo physicians and scientists, headed by Michael
O'Connor, PhD. The Company aims to utilize the licensed technology in
conjunction with its Lumagem molecular breast imaging system to improve the
diagnosis of cancers in women with dense breasts. An estimated 30% of
women have dense breast tissue, which can impede diagnosis of
abnormalities. Existing mammography and other screening techniques are at
times either insufficient or very expensive diagnostic tools. Molecular
breast imaging promises to be a cost-effective solution for these women.
Dr. Bradley Patt, CEO of GMI, said, "We are extremely pleased that Dr.
O'Connor and his team at Mayo have chosen GMI to bring their important
technology to market. This is very timely given the release of the US
Preventative Task Force report on mammography. The underlying reason for
the controversy in mammography is the fact that mammography has underserved
groups of women such as the 40-50 year old age group, where higher breast
density has rendered mammography much less effective. GMI's LumaGEM system,
now enhanced with Mayo's technologies, will be a highly effective solution
for such cases. The Mayo technologies, which have been under development
and evaluation for the last 7 years, enable this procedure to be performed
at a radiation dose comparable to a mammogram."
The suite of technologies invented by Mayo Clinic enhance the existing
capabilities of GMI's LumaGEM dual headed imaging system through special
image processing software algorithms and collimator and detector
optimization techniques. The license also includes methods and devices
developed at Mayo for combining next generation x-ray tomosynthesis
techniques with molecular imaging of the breast. In initial clinical
studies, the Mayo algorithms licensed to GMI yield better images at lower
dose.
Funding from internal sources at Mayo, GMI, and the National Cancer
Institute has been instrumental in moving the technology forward. Under an
IRB approved screening study the technology is already showing promising
results with just one-third of the standard dose of Tc-99m Sestamibi
typically utilized in the procedure.
According to Dr. O'Connor, "Mayo is looking forward to the collaboration
with GMI as we work together to bring this advanced technology to the
health care industry. We have used GMI's Lumagem technology combined with
our inventions to successfully perform close to 2000 patient studies at
Mayo over the past four years. We believe that the combination of GMI's
detector technology and the algorithms and techniques developed at Mayo,
will enable us to achieve a significant reduction in the radiation dose
required for molecular breast imaging, and increase the diagnostic utility
of this technique."
"Over the past few years the need for secondary imaging in breast cancer
diagnosis has become obvious. Until now dedicated breast MRI has been
useful in helping fill the void, and the number of MRI secondary breast
imaging scans has quickly grown to almost 1 million per year," according to
Dr. Patt. "GMI's LumaGEM product in conjunction with the Mayo technology
offers accuracy rivaling MRI, with even better specificity and at a
fraction of the cost. We are very excited about the possibility of
utilizing this technology to deliver improved quality of care in women's
health at a lower cost to the healthcare system."
About Gamma Medica-Ideas, Inc.
Gamma Medica-Ideas (GMI) designs, builds and services imaging systems based
on novel technologies to improve patient health through early diagnosis of
disease, improved patient treatment and by enabling new drug discovery. GMI
is dedicated to leading medical imaging into a new digital era with its
unique sensor readout systems. The company's core digital imaging
technologies also hold great promise for a new class of solutions for the
safety and security markets. In the pre-clinical space, GMI's FLEX
Triumph™ imaging platform is marketed for medical research and drug
development. The FLEX Triumph system combines PET (LabPET™), SPECT
(X-SPECT®) and CT (X-O™) modalities in the world's first tri-modality
system. GMI's pre-clinical imaging products are distributed exclusively by
GE Healthcare globally and in Japan by SII NanoTechnology, a Seiko company.
In the clinical space, GMI offers LumaGEM®, its dual-headed Molecular
Breast Imaging (MBI) based system for early diagnosis and treatment of
breast cancer. The digital gamma ray imaging technology in LumaGEM offers
significant advances in resolution and contrast, which has allowed for
identification of millimeter sized breast cancers missed by mammography,
especially in women with dense breast tissue. Visit www.gm-ideas.com.
About Mayo Clinic's Office of Intellectual Property
Mayo Clinic has one of the most highly evolved intellectual property and
technology commercialization efforts in academic medicine, with a 20 plus
year history of supporting Mayo's mission. The Office of Intellectual
Property at Mayo Clinic, serves as a bridge between discoveries and the
marketplace. The Office works closely with Mayo physicians and scientists
to evaluate and develop inventions, ideas and discoveries that have the
potential to transform healthcare and generate income to support Mayo
patient care, education and research. Mayo Clinic's Office of Intellectual
Property has filed more than 2,400 patents resulting in over 600 active
patent-licensing agreements with industry.
