Thulium Ltd.
Thulium Therapy is developing a new radioactive source for Brachytherapy, a cancer treatment modality were a radiation source is inserted into the tumor. The isotope, Thulium 170 (Tm170), is a radioactive variant of the stable metal Tm169. Although the concept of Brachytherapy is not new, much room remains for improvement in order to maximize the probability of completely eliminating a localized tumor while minimizing the radiation damage to the surrounding healthy tissue.
The Problem
Brachytherapy, a cancer treatment modality, is based on the elimination of cancerous cells by irradiating them with ionizing radiation from a radioactive source. It has been practiced successfully for many years. However, the sources currently in use (such as Ir192 or I125) suffer from one or more of several deficiencies including: (1) Most of the radiation “leaks” beyond the tumor, exposing the surrounding healthy tissue (and other people who may be close by) to the that radiation; (2) A relatively short half-life, requiring frequent, and expensive, replenishment of the source material; (3) Inadequate mechanical material characteristics encumbering the incorporation of the radioactive source material into easily used applicators.
Market Potential
The current market for brachytherapy is estimated at 800$M/year. However, in many cases (e.g. prostate cancer), brachytherapy competes with other medical solutions (e.g. surgery) that have comparable success rates and side effects. Improving the radioactive sources employed in brachytherapy may transform it into the preferred mode of treatment, thus increasing the potential market significantly.
Technology (product) Description
Thulium Therapy Ltd. proposes replacement of the existing radioactive sources used for brachytherapy (I125, Ir192 etc.), with Tm170.
Competition
Major competitors that manufacture radioactive sources for barchytherapy, and their main products in this field, include:
Amersham health – seeds.
Best Medical international – Isotopes seeds and ribbons.
Cytogen corporation – seeds.
Imagyn medical technologies – seeds.
Lynntech – Isotopes.
MDS Nordion – Isotopes, seeds.
North American Scientific – seeds.
Novoste – HDR
Proxima Therapeutics – HDR & LDR
SIRTex medical – microspheres
Theragenics – seeds
Varian – HDR, LDR, seeds.
The Team
Prof. Gad Shani, chief scientist and inventor of Thulium’s technology. Prof. Emeritus at the Biomedical Engineering dept., Ben-Gurion University.
Company Status
The company is at an initial stage of characterizing its technology and identifying specific applications where the Thulium-based technology is medically, physically and commercially superior to existing, competing technologies. This involves both various dosimetry measurements and simulations, and animal studies designed to demonstrate the advantages of Tm in curing cancer.
Contact
Dr. Amikam Levanon
Email: amikam@irv.co.il
Mobile: + 972- 5-46655947
Back to top
