By Cathleen Rineer-Garber, Office of the Vice President for Health Sciences

The New Mexico Center for Isotopes in Medicine (NMCIM) was created in December of 2004, growing out of collaborations between UNM, Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute (LRRI), New Mexico State University, and other longtime partnerships. The NMCIM is located within the College of Pharmacy on the campus of the UNM Health Sciences Center.

Since the early 1970s, UNM has been active in the discovery and research of isotope applications in medicine. In fact, the College of Pharmacy at UNM was the birthplace of commercial radiopharmacy in the 1970s and the field generated a great deal of enthusiasm. This new endeavor, says John Pieper, PharmD, Dean of the UNM College of Pharmacy, is also creating much interest.

“New trends in the pharmaceutical industry, availability of isotopes, demonstrated cost-effectiveness and improvements in patient outcomes has created a new opportunity for UNM,” says Pieper. “UNM and the state of New Mexico have the opportunity to re-emerge as a national leader in this field.”

In a major step toward achieving this, Governor Bill Richardson, LANL Director Pete Nanos, and UNM President Louis Caldera signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on March 8, between UNM and LANL to formalize the New Mexico Center for Isotopes in Medicine. The agreement establishes joint appointments for UNM and LANL scientists and allows for the exchange of unique technology and isotopes from the LANL Isotope Production Facility to UNM.

This partnership will support expanded education, research, and patient care programs at UNM designed to expand the radiopharmaceuitical sciences and radiochemistry programs and to help create jobs for UNM graduates within New Mexico. Other partners include LRRI, which will assist in pre-clinical drug evaluation, and TCI Medical—New Mexico’s largest isotope-based business.

“We have a unique situation here,” says Pieper. “With the research capabilities at UNM, New Mexico State University, and the national labs, and with several local private firms that specialize in the production and commercialization of isotopes, we have the infrastructure and potential industrial base to be the leader in the development and manufacture of medical isotopes.”

This, Pieper says, is New Mexico’s opportunity to get in on the ground floor of a booming industry. Diagnostic radiopharmaceuticals—radioactive drugs that detect diseases—are used to examine blood flow to the brain, functioning of the liver, lungs, heart or kidneys, and to assess bone growth. These diagnostic imaging procedures that utilize radiopharmaceuticals, such as Positron Emission Tomography (PET), are used more than 35,000 times per day at health care facilities throughout the US.

In addition to their use in diagnostics, radiopharmaceuticals are effective tools in the treatment of numerous diseases. In some cases, they are also proving to be far more cost effective than conventional drug therapies. In today’s world of ever-increasing health care costs, radiopharmaceuticals have become a very attractive alternative. There are about 1,800 known radioisotopes, but only about 200 are used on a regular basis. The market for radiophamaceuticals is projected to reach $5 billion by 2007.

Although he is genuinely concerned about the potential for economic development in the state, Pieper does have ulterior motives for seeing this industry develop. “The NMCIM will extend the capabilities into pharmaceutical development which will improve the delivery of health care in New Mexico, and nationally,” says Pieper.

In addition to the UNM College of Pharmacy, both the UNM School of Medicine and UNM Cancer Research and Treatment Center (CRTC) will benefit from participation in the new center. “The School of Medicine’s radiology/nuclear medicine program and the UNM Cancer Research and Treatment Center are excited to participate in this project,” says Pieper. The CRTC’s cancer biology and translational research programs will form the basis for radiopharmaceutical development, and because of their active clinical research, they will also serve as the site for the center’s clinical trials.

According to Pieper, the new center will provide new educational opportunities for UNM students, stimulate research funding at UNM through major pharmaceutical companies, contribute to the development of new medicines for diagnosis and treatment, and stimulate the state’s economy. “But, the bottom line is that the people of New Mexico will directly benefit from the advances in diagnosis and treatment,” he says. “And that’s really what it’s all about.”


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