This facility will be designed to support Siemens Eclipse-HP cyclotrons thus enhancing production reliability and PET biomarker capacity. The facility will be operated by Siemens with a support from PETNET Solutions, Inc. a fully owned subsidiary of Siemens Healthcare and a world leader in the manufacture and delivery of high quality PET biomarkers. The cyclotron facility will be located in the Nuclear Medicine Department newly established by EDPL. PET biomarkers manufactured at this facility will be distributed to hospitals, clinics and research institutions in Kolkata and to Eastern and North Eastern region of India.

Speaking on this initiative, Mr. D Ragavan, Sector CEO, South Asia Cluster, Siemens Healthcare said, “In India, over a million people are diagnosed with cancer every year and there is a growing need for the latest technologies in combating potentially life-threatening diseases. PET.CT imaging improves the accuracy of cancer diagnosis and allows for more accurate, staging of the disease. It also reduces the cost and improves the accuracy of cancer treatment. The cyclotron investment will help the people of Eastern India have assess to this important medical technology and allow future application of PET.CT imaging in cardiac and neurology diseases. We are proud that EKO Diagnostics has agreed to establish this facility. Siemens along with Dr. Sharma and his team will fill a critical gap in the Healthcare Infrastructure of Eastern and North Eastern region of India by applying this technology to the benefits of the patients.”

Since PET biomarkers like FDG have a shelf life of less than 12 hours, due to the half life of the cyclotron produced isotopes, these need to be produced locally and distributed faster and efficiently. The new cyclotron facility will assure reliable delivery of biomarkers and will vastly increase their availability, enabling more patients to have access to the world-class imaging facility of PET.CT. For cancer patients, this will allow for earlier lesion detection, staging and diagnosis of cancers, which is essential for treatment and disease management.

Dr. S K Sharma, Director, EDPL, said, “We at EKO are committed to quality delivery of diagnosis and will continue to set benchmarks. We are known to bring the latest in technology to the Eastern Region and to the people of Kolkata in particular. With this facility, along with Siemens, we are making yet another significant contribution to strengthen healthcare infrastructure in the country.”

Siemens Ltd. is the flagship listed company in India. Siemens in India, which comprises 19 legal entities, is a leading provider of industry and infrastructure solutions with a business volume aggregating about Rs. 12,000 crore. It operates in the core business areas of Industry, Energy and Healthcare. It has nation-wide Sales and Service network, 19 manufacturing plants, a network of around 500 channel partners and employs about 16,800 people.

The Siemens Healthcare Sector is one of the world's largest suppliers to the healthcare industry and a trendsetter in medical imaging, laboratory diagnostics, medical information technology and hearing aids. Siemens offers its customers products and solutions for the entire range of patient care from a single source – from prevention and early detection to diagnosis, and on to treatment and aftercare. By optimizing clinical workflows for the most common diseases, Siemens also makes healthcare faster, better and more cost-effective. Siemens Healthcare employs some 48,000 employees worldwide and operates around the world. In fiscal year 2009 (to September 30), the Sector posted revenue of 11.9 billion euros and profit of around 1.5 billion euros. For further information please visit: www.siemens.com/healthcare.

EKO Diagnostic Private Limited is one of the premier medical centres in India founded by Dr. S K Sharma, an eminent Radiologist and Nuclear Medicine specialist of the country. It has a consistent track record of providing the most modern diagnostic and allied services at Kolkata, Siliguri, Kalyani, Behrampore, Ranchi, Cuttack and Bhubaneswar in Eastern India for the last 30 years. EKO was the first private partner with the Government of West Bengal to set up a medical diagnostic service (CT and MRI) at Calcutta Medical College, Kolkata and recently in Cuttack with the Government of Orissa. In keeping with the philosophy of EKO to obtain and deliver the most accurate diagnostic results possible, the vision to set up an integrated medical cyclotron PET-CT Project (Positron Emission Tomography) along with a Nuclear Medicine Department and a specialized hospital related to molecular medicine was envisioned. The proposed project shall benefit the people of West Bengal and entire Eastern Region. For further information please visit www.ekoxray.com