GARCHING, Germany--(BUSINESS WIRE)--ITM Isotopen Technologien München AG (ITM), a biotechnology and radiopharmaceutical group of companies announced today that they have been honored for their Targeted Radionuclide Therapy at the German Medical Award 2019 in the category “Medical Innovation Product”. The focus this year was placed on "Medicine of the Future". ITM received the award in recognition of their contribution to the improvement of outcomes and quality of life of cancer patients and its continued research in the development of innovative radiopharmaceuticals.
The German Medical Award accolades medical professionals, clinics and companies from the healthcare industry for their dedication and commitment to advanced patient care. The prize rewards the advocacy of medical ethics and the highest quality standards. The German Medical Award committee, who determines the winner, consists of renowned physicians from various disciplines, researchers from science and practice but also medical quality managers, business administrators and lawyers with high expertise in the medical and healthcare industry.
The award-winning treatment approach, ITM's targeted radionuclide therapy, uses very small amounts of radioactive compounds called radiopharmaceuticals to diagnose and treat diseases, like cancer. Targeted radiopharmaceuticals contain a targeting molecule (e.g. peptide or antibody) and a medical radioactive isotope. The technique works by injecting the radio-conjugate into the patient’s body where it accumulates in the affected organs or lesions. The targeting molecule binds to a tumor- specific receptor or antigen, according to a lock and key principle.
In many cases, the targeting molecule can be used for both diagnosis and therapy – only the radioisotope is exchanged. For diagnostic purposes, radioisotopes with short half-lives such as gallium-68 are used. Radioisotopes with longer half-lives are applied for treatment, such as ITM's high-purity no-carrier-added (n.c.a.) Lutetium-177 (EndolucinBeta®).The highly precise localization of the radioactivity ensures that healthy tissue surrounding the targeted tumor is minimally affected. Due to its extraordinary level of radionuclidic purity, there is no need for the logistics and storage of contaminated radioactive waste for clinics.
Steffen Schuster, CEO of ITM, commented: "We are very proud and grateful to receive the German Medical Award for our Targeted Radionuclide Therapy. The focus of this award lies with patient benefit which is a great honor for us. Our work at ITM is very patient focused: each and every one of our employees is aware that their efforts contribute towards improving the treatment and quality of life of cancer patients. I would like to thank the jury and our partners, but first and foremost our team who work together every day to further develop our therapy and without whose commitment this success would not be possible."
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ITM Isotopen Technologien München AG
Chairman of the Supervisory Board - Udo J. Vetter, Executive Board - Steffen Schuster (Chairman), Thomas Dürre
Registered Office of the Company - Lichtenbergstr. 1, 85748 Garching – Commercial Register Munich - HRB 154944