A Diagnostics & Imaging Week

3M (St. Paul, Minnesota) and Zargis Medical (Princeton, New Jersey) reported an exclusive multi-year marketing agreement.

Zargis said it would support 3M in its efforts to develop a next-generation stethoscope that would be compatible with Zargis’ heart sound analysis software. The date that the software will become available with a 3M Littmann stethoscope was not disclosed.

“This agreement builds on the rich Littmann brand legacy of advancing the art of auscultation,” said Chuck Kummeth, VP and general manager of 3M’s medical division. “We are committed to bringing innovative solutions to our customers, and this agreement with Zargis will help us do this well into the future.”

“We have been working closely with 3M for nearly two years to further evaluate this market and refine our product strategy,” said Zargis CEO John Kallassy. “We believe that the use of our software could enhance the physician experience during every patient exam where a stethoscope is currently used. This alliance with 3M will allow us to seamlessly integrate our advanced sound analysis technology with 3M’s next-generation electronic stethoscopes and turn this vision into a reality on a global level.”

The alliance also provides Zargis with exclusive rights to sell its heart sound analysis software through the global distribution network of the Littman brand. The agreement grants 3M a minority equity position in Zargis, following the first sale of Zargis’ software through the 3M distribution channel, and a seat on Zargis’ board.

3M HealthCare, one of 3M’s six major business segments, provides products and services to healthcare professionals intended to improve the practice, delivery and outcome of patient care in medical, oral care, drug delivery and health information markets.

Zargis develops diagnostic decision support products and services for healthcare.

In other agreements:

• Strategic Diagnostics (Newark, Delaware) reported progress in collaborating with the Kleberg Center for Molecular Markers at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center (Houston). The center is testing the company’s Genomic Antibody Technology (GAT) platform in oncology biomarker discovery research.

Strategic’s sequence-based GAT platform is designed to trigger the immune system of the host to produce an antibody against a native protein. Through internal and third party analysis, these antibodies have demonstrated superior performance in the recognition and targeting of native protein targets in experimental models and clinical samples as compared to reagents made with traditional methods, according to the company.

Participating in a collaborative study, researchers at M. D. Anderson have now used Strategic’s library of GAT antibodies to screen hundreds of clinical cancer biopsy samples in a high throughput system to analyze the differential presence of proteins in the tissue samples. The individual protein signature of these samples created with the company’s reagents allows further research into the clinical significance of the findings. The correlation of the data with the corresponding disease state represented by the samples is focused on yielding new tools to improve diagnostic, prognostic, and patient monitoring decisions.

Strategic Diagnostic makes biotechnology-based detection solutions.

• Accuray (Sunnyvale, California), which focuses on radiosurgery, said that the company is partnering with The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center (Houston) to launch a prospective clinical study to compare treatment outcomes in early-stage operable lung cancer. Patients in the study will be randomly assigned to traditional surgery or CyberKnife robotic radiosurgery for their treatment.

“We feel the time is right to explore less invasive alternatives for early stage lung cancer patients,” said Jack Roth, MD, professor and Bud Johnson Clinical Distinguished Chair, Department of Thoracic & Cardiovascular Surgery at M. D. Anderson and the study’s principal investigator.

Sites from around the world will participate in this 1,200-patient study, with coordination and oversight by the M. D. Anderson team. The goal of the study is to compare treatment outcomes between surgery and CyberKnife radiosurgery across a broad range of geographic healthcare markets. Patient accrual is expected to begin in early 2008.

A major factor in the success of this study is selecting the most accurate method of treatment that will maximize radiation to the tumor and minimize damage to surrounding healthy tissue.

“Over the past five years clinicians have obtained excellent outcomes treating lung cancer with CyberKnife Radiosurgery,” said Omar Dawood, M.D., MPH, vice president of Clinical Development of Accuray Incorporated. “We believe the CyberKnife System’s unique ability to track tumor motion and deliver radiation accurately and non-invasively make it the ideal platform for this clinical study. We are excited about this partnership with M. D. Anderson, a leader in cancer treatment, and the huge benefits this study’s outcomes could have for patients with lung cancer.”

The CyberKnife Robotic Radiosurgery System is the world’s only robotic radiosurgery system designed to treat tumors anywhere in the body non- invasively and with sub-millimeter accuracy, the company said.

Using continual image guidance technology and computer controlled robotic mobility, the CyberKnife System is designed to track, detect and correct for tumor and patient movement in real-time throughout the treatment. That enables the CyberKnife System to deliver precise, high-dose radiation, minimizing damage to surrounding healthy tissue and eliminating the need for invasive head or body stabilization frames.

• Calypso Medical (Seattle) and Impac Medical Systems (Sunnyvale, California) have identified product collaboration projects which will further enable integration of oncology management systems with the Calypso 4-D localization system. Designed to provide an objective and continuous method to set up patients for radiation treatment, the Calypso system monitors the patient during treatment without adding ionizing radiation.

“Calypso Medical plans to work with Impac to provide our customers with innovative approaches to real-time organ motion management from patient setup through treatment,” said Eric Meier, president/CEO of Calypso. “We anticipate workflow gains that will further solidify our platform as ideal and unique by providing continuous and real-time target localization solutions.”

Accurate and precise delivery of radiation treatment will be ensured by correcting for motion detected by the Calypso System prior to and during the actual treatment, according to the companies.