MIAMI–BUSINESS WIRE — Bio-Nucleonics’ lead product Strontium Chloride Sr-89 Injection USP (Strontium-89), which is the generic version of Metastron®, is an option to consider for metastatic cancer bone pain therapy, typically caused by advanced stage breast, prostate or lung cancer.

Generic Strontium Chloride Sr-89 Injection USP (Strontium-89) is a radioactive pharmaceutical injection to relieve bone pain in patients with painful skeletal metastases. In the body, Strontium acts similar to calcium and is preferentially taken up in osteoblastic tissue while the unabsorbed isotope is excreted in the urine the first 2 to 3 days following injection, clearing rapidly from the blood and selectively localizing in bone mineral. Uptake of strontium by bone occurs preferentially in sites of active osteogenesis; thus primary bone tumors and areas of metastatic involvement (blastic lesions) can accumulate significantly greater concentrations of strontium than surrounding normal bone.

Generic Strontium Chloride Sr-89 Injection USP can be replaced or used in combination with opiate based drugs like Oxycotin®, Morphine, Percocet® as well as cancer therapeutic drugs. Clinical studies have demonstrated that the combination of alternating weekly chemohormonal therapies with Sr-89 demonstrated a prolonged progression-free and overall survival with acceptable toxicity.

“For more than a decade, Bio-Nucleonics has been providing us with Generic Strontium Chloride Sr-89 for the palliation of painful bone metastases. Strontium has been a God-send and has proved invaluable in providing patients with dramatic pain relief from the debilitating chronic pain of metastatic bone cancer without the side effects caused by opioids.” stated Dr. Ernie Meth, of Temecula Valley Nuclear Medicine.

ABOUT BIO-NUCLEONICS:

Bio-Nucleonics, Inc., is a privately-held, life sciences company, specializing in the development, manufacture and marketing of radiopharmaceuticals, medical devices and imaging agents for the detection and treatment of oncological, cardiovascular, and neurological diseases. The Company has a product development pipeline including several new drug applications with products in various stages of development. The Company’s business strategy is to capitalize on its proven expertise targeted to improving patient care and quality-of-life.

Contacts

Bio-Nucleonics, Inc.
Eva Capps, 305-468-9141
media@bionucleonics.com

The Company announced that it has resumed production of the cancer drug Strontium Chloride Sr-89 Injection USP (“Strontium-89”). Strontium-89 is an intravenously administered cancer drug that provides long lasting pain relief for patients suffering from bone pain due to metastatic cancer, typically caused by advanced stage breast, prostate or lung cancer.

Strontium-89 is preferentially absorbed in bone metastases, providing a long-term effect resulting in an enhanced quality-of-life. There are approximately 300,000 new cases per year in the U.S., an area of unmet medical need. It has been reported that there is a decrease in pain, an increase in physical activity and a reduction in the need for opiate analgesics, such as morphine, in up to 80% of patients.

President and Chief Executive Officer Roseanne Satz stated, “Our participation at SNM is crucial to meeting with our radiopharmacy customers and creating market awareness. The exposure and introductions gained from these industry conferences yield opportunities that advance our future growth. We are pleased to be able to fill the demand for this important drug which allows greater flexibility in pain management and improves patient quality-of-life.”

ABOUT Strontium Chloride Sr-89 Injection USP

Strontium-89 (Generic Metastron®) provides long lasting pain relief for patients suffering from bone pain due to metastatic cancer. Strontium-89 is administered by injection by a nuclear medicine physician, radiation oncologist, or other clinician licensed to administer radiopharmaceuticals. Bone metastases are usually diagnosed because patients experience pain at or near metastastic sites and report this to their doctor.

ABOUT BIO-NUCLEONICS

Bio-Nucleonics, Inc. is a privately-held, life sciences company, specializing in the development, manufacture and marketing of radiopharmaceuticals, medical devices and imaging agents for the detection and treatment of oncological, cardiovascular, and neurological diseases. The Company has a product development pipeline including several new drug applications with products in various stages of development. The Company’s business strategy is to capitalize on its proven expertise targeted to improving patient care and quality-of-life.

Contacts

Bio-Nucleonics, Inc.
Eva Capps, 305-468-9141
media@bionucleonics.com

Department of Nuclear Medicine, West China Hospital of Sichuan
University, Chengdu 610041, China.
Abstract

Bone metastases are a major problem in the clinical management of patients with prostate cancer. Despite the use of analgesic for the relief of such pain, the outcomes are not often satisfactory.

Strontium-89 (89Sr) is a pure beta-emitting radioisotope to be avidly concentrated in the areas of high osteoblastic activity. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of 89Sr in the therapy for bone metastases of prostate carcinoma. 116 patients received intravenous injection of 89Sr at the dose of 3mCi (111MBq). All patients underwent physical examination and Karnofsky’s Performance Score (KPS) evaluation before and after administration; the analgesic effects were evaluated by scores of pain. The complete response (CR) was defined as scores of pain > 75%; no response (NR) was defined as scores of pain < 25% the remaining was partial response (PR). The changes of bone metastases were screened by CT, MRI and 99mTc-MDP bone scintigraphy according to the standards of WHO. After the treatment with 89Sr, the total response rate was 80.2%. In the 116 cases, 21 cases (18.1%) displayed complete response and 72 cases (62.1%) displayed partial response, but 23 cases (19.2%) showed no response.

The mean score on Karnfsky’s performance status (KPS) was 20.0% higher. About 1/3 cases exhibited an obvious decrease in the number of metastases, and some foci disappeared. Thirteen cases (12%) showed a greater decrease in prostate-specific antigen (PSA) value. 89Sr chloride is an effective and safe therapy of the bone metastases from prostate cancer.

PMID: 21374974 [PubMed - in process]
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9. Bone-targeted therapy: phase II study of strontium-89 in combination with alternating weekly chemohormonal therapies for patients with advanced androgen-independent prostate cancer.
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Source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21374974