Gamma Medica-Ideas signs exclusive license and commercialization agreement with Mayo Clinic

Dec 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."