DuChemBio Co., Ltd. (DCB), a leading radio-pharmaceutical company in Korea, and Nihon Medi-Physics Co., Ltd. (NMP), a leading radiopharmaceutical company in Japan, recently announced that they have entered into an exclusive agreement to develop, register and commercialize anti-1-amino-3-18F-fluorocyclo-butane-1-carboxylic acid (FACBC) in Korea.  FACBC is a radiopharmaceutical for positron emission tomography (PET) imaging of recurrent prostate cancer.

FACBC has been granted marketing authorizations by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the US and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in EU for imaging of men with suspected prostate cancer recurrence. Prostate cancer patients whose blood test for prostate-specific antigen (PSA) indicate that the cancer may have returned after the initial treatment, such as prostatectomy, usually undergo conventional imaging tests (e.g. CT, MRI, bone scintigraphy). However, the chances to find recurrent cancer lesions in such patients using conventional imaging are relatively low. FACBC-enhanced PET imaging is a proven diagnostic tool for highly optimal management of patients with suspected prostate cancer recurrence.

Full press release

During the 2018 annual meeting of the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging in Philadelphia, representatives of Asan Medical Center, DuChemBio Co., Ltd. and BGM Associates GmbH inked a Licensing Consortium Agreement for the international partnering of the molecular imaging compound – [18F]-fluoroestradiol (FES). [18F]FES is a fluorine-18 labelled radiopharmaceutical used for the imaging of breast cancer patients with positron emission tomography (PET) cameras.
 
Asan Medical Center, one of the leading research hospitals in Asia-Pacific region, has recently finalized its phase III trial in Korea and is now seeking regulatory approval for the [18F]FES from Korean Health Authorities.
 
DuChemBio, the leading radiopharmaceutical company in Korea, alongside BGM Associates are now in charge of the international partnering and development of the breast cancer radiopharmaceutical.

The conference which took place on the 24th of April at the European School of Management and Technology Berlin explored the current state and the future of healthcare digitalisation in Asian countries. The questions raised during the conference were, amongst others:

• How would the the digital healthcare transformation in Asia look in the future?
• How will the healthcare digitalisation in Asia solve the challenges of increasingly common ‘life style diseases’ and the expanding healthcare costs?
• How are the Asian healthcare systems being shaped, and how would they compare to the Western ones?

As part of the Asia Pacific Week 2018, the event was organised by BGM Associates, the Asia-Pacific Forum Berlin in partnership with Health Capital - Berlin Partner for Business and Technology and the German Healthcare Partnership. For further details about the contributions please see the event programme.

Prof. Gert Bruche, Co-Founder and Partner at BGM Associates presented at the event on: Digital Healthcare Transformation and Artificial Intelligence – Where is China Heading?
You can view his presentation here.

​The Future of Medical Ultrasound Symposium, held from January 17th till 19th 2018, addressed the future potential of ultrasound technologies and solutions for medical diagnosis and therapy and brought together leading experts in the field from Europe and abroad. The Symposium was held at Charité, Berlin – one of the leading university hospitals in Europe, as a collaboration of Charité, Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft and the German Röntgen Society (Deutsche Röntgengesellschaft).

​Prof. Dr. Hans Maier, Member of the Advisory Board of the Fraunhofer Institute for Medical Image Computing, delivered the welcome address alongside Prof. Dr. Bernd Hamm, Director of the Institute of Radiology at Charité, Prof. Dr. Horst Hahn, Director of Fraunhofer Institute for Medical Image Computing MEVIS, and Prof. Dr. Thomas Fischer, Head of Interdisciplinary Ultrasound Center Charité.

Link to the event page

As part of its 5-year anniversary, BGM organised an evening boat trip along the river Spree in Berlin with business partners from Germany and abroad, as well as representatives from the healthcare industry and the medical-scientific community.