Tie-up

Siemens Ties Up with EKO Diagnostics to Provide PET Biomarkers in Kolkata

This facility will be designed to support Siemens Eclipse-HP cyclotrons

D Ragavan

Siemens has signed a collaborative agreement with EKO Diagnostic Private Limited (EDPL), Kolkata to set-up a cyclotron facility to manufacture Positron Emission Tomography (PET) biomarkers. This first-of-its-kind facility in Eastern and North Eastern region of India will produce Fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) and other biomarkers that are used along with PET-CT scanners. These biomarkers help to diagnose and stage diseases like cancer, cardiac and certain neurology disorders.

This facility will be designed to support Siemens Eclipse-HP cyclotrons- thus enhancing production reliability and PET biomarker capacity. The facility will be operated by Siemens with a support from PETNET Solutions, Inc- a fully-owned subsidiary of Siemens Healthcare and a world leader in the manufacture and delivery of high quality PET biomarkers. The cyclotron facility will be located in the Nuclear Medicine Department, newly established by EDPL.

PET biomarkers manufactured at this facility will be distributed to hospitals, clinics and research institutions in Kolkata and to Eastern and North Eastern region of India.

Said D Ragavan, Sector CEO, South Asia Cluster, Siemens Healthcare, "In India, over a million people are diagnosed with cancer every year and there is a growing need for the latest technologies in combating potentially life-threatening diseases. PET-CT imaging improves the accuracy of cancer diagnosis and allows for more accurate staging of the disease. It also reduces the cost and improves the accuracy of cancer treatment.

The cyclotron investment will help the people of Eastern India have assess to this important medical technology and allow future application of PET-CT imaging in cardiac and neurology diseases. We are proud that EKO Diagnostics has agreed to establish this facility. Siemens along with Dr Sharma and his team will fill a critical gap in the healthcare Infrastructure of Eastern and North Eastern region of India by applying this technology to the benefits of the patients."

Since PET biomarkers like FDG have a shelf life of less than 12 hours, due to the half life of the cyclotron produced isotopes, these need to be produced locally and distributed faster and efficiently. The new cyclotron facility will assure reliable delivery of biomarkers and will vastly increase their availability, enabling more patients to have access to the world-class imaging facility of PET-CT. For cancer patients, this will allow for earlier lesion detection, staging and diagnosis of cancers, which is essential for treatment and disease management.

Said Dr SK Sharma, Director, EDPL, "We at EKO are committed to quality delivery of diagnosis and will continue to set benchmarks. We are known to bring the latest in technology to the Eastern region and to the people of Kolkata in particular. With this facility, along with Siemens, we are making yet another significant contribution to strengthen healthcare infrastructure in the country."

EH News Bureau