|
| |
NorthStar Signs Exclusive Licensing Agreement for Innovative Medical
Radioisotope Processing and Purification
May 1, 2006
NorthStar Growth Partners, LLC
One Parker Place, Ste 710
Janesville, WI 53545
NorthStar Signs Exclusive Licensing Agreement for Innovative Medical
Radioisotope Processing and Purification
JANESVILLE, Wis. - NorthStar Growth Partners, LLC (NGP) announced today that it
has signed an exclusive, worldwide licensing agreement with PG Research
Foundation (PGRF) of Darien, Ill., for exclusive rights to patented technologies
that will advance processing methods, minimize handling and expedite delivery of
radioisotopes used in the nuclear medicine marketplace.
“We are very pleased that we have partnered with PG Research Foundation in the
advancement and application of this new technology,” states George Messina,
founder and managing director of NGP. “The idea of bringing technology to bear
that can improve purity, reduce exposure to nuclear technicians and improve
processing methods and speed, will have a dramatic impact on production of
radiopharmaceuticals used today and in the future.”
Messina is also the Chairman and CEO of NorthStar Nuclear Medicine Inc., a
company founded by the principals of NGP that focuses on the nuclear medicine
market. Scientific advancements in the use of radioisotopes for medical
diagnosis and treatment have created an estimated $10 billion market, with an
expected growth rate in excess of 10 percent annually over the next five years.
“Research today has been held back by the availability, cost and time-consuming
manual processing methods for radioisotopes. Existing production processes are
antiquated and cumbersome, making it imperative that innovations such as this be
made available to healthcare providers,” states Messina.
With the increasing use of radioisotopes as early detection markers for disease
and advances in radioisotope usage as a therapy in cancers, leukemia,
Parkinson’s disease and rejection of organ transplants, the current production
methods of radiopharmaceuticals have had difficulty in meeting research demands
and consistency. There exists today a fundamental belief that being treated with
molecules which can seek and attach radioisotopes to tumors and cancerous
growths can dramatically improve the treatment and potentially cure deadly and
debilitating diseases.
This new technology, which is computer controlled, addresses efficiency, safer
handling and faster preparation times, which are crucial for new short-lived
radiopharmaceuticals to be effective. In addition, each dose of the radioisotope
is produced with nearly identical chemical and radioactive properties, the
probability of human error is reduced and the radiation exposure experienced by
nuclear technicians is decreased.
“This technology has the ability to take a complicated manual chemical process
and reduce it to a push of a button,” explains Glenn Isensee, a technical
advisor and senior partner of NGP.
NorthStar Nuclear Medicine Inc. holds a worldwide exclusive license to pursue
the medical applications of the technology and is focused on improving
availability and production of the newest radioisotopes. This technology offers
incredible promise of advancing the use of new and existing radioisotopes for
use in early diagnosis and treatment of cancers and other diagnostic uses.
This technology can be further applied to a variety of other medical and
commercial applications, which NGP plans to exploit in the related fields of
life sciences, proteomics, animal disease diagnostics and environmental
clean-up.
About NorthStar Growth Partners, LLC
NorthStar Growth Partners, LLC, headquartered in Janesville, Wis., is a boutique
business development and investment firm that is dedicated to provide its
value-building expertise to start-ups, early stage, emerging growth and
middle-market companies. Driven by success, NGP uses a team approach to
effectively operate companies in a fashion to strengthen and grow their value
and thus provide rewarding shareholder returns. NGP has provided capital and
developed sources for equity, mezzanine and senior debt throughout the United
States. NGP is actively involved with technology companies in a variety of
fields including healthcare, automation, consumer products, computer software,
biotechnology, radiochemistry and business services. Its highly experienced team
provides merger and acquisition services, strategic planning and execution,
extensive industry research and technology contacts, financial and corporate
services and assists in operation of businesses in all of the industries it
serves. For more information, visit
www.northstargp.com.
About NorthStar Nuclear Medicine, Inc.
NorthStar Nuclear Medicine, Inc. is headquartered in Janesville, Wis., with
offices in Naperville, Ill., and Madison, Wis. It plans to develop and market
novel radioisotope production and purification technologies to the nuclear
medicine market. Its initial offering, the ASSUR platform and related
technologies, is designed to facilitate rapid purification of radioisotopes
needed in nuclear medicine. NorthStar Nuclear Medicine, Inc is an early-stage
company that has committed itself to improving isotope availability and
processing needed to enable nuclear medicine research involved with diagnostics
and therapies which may cure today’s most challenging cancers and diseases. For
more information, visit www.northstarnm.com.
About The PG Research Foundation
The PG Research Foundation headquartered in Darien, Ill., sponsors work that
advances knowledge to benefit humankind. By reinvesting income from technologies
jointly developed by PGRF and its partner research institutions, the foundation
funds both fundamental and application-directed research that is at the
forefront of the chemical sciences. For more information, visit
www.pgrf.com.
-- Back to
Newsroom --
For More Information Contact:
NorthStar Nuclear Medicine
One Parker Place, Ste 710 Janesville, WI 53545
Tel: 608-756-1710
FAX: 608-756-8506
Internet:
info@northstarnm.com
|
