Perma-Fix Announces Exclusive Commercial License to Technology for Use in Proprietary Process to Produce Medical Isotopes
ATLANTA, GA -- (MARKETWIRE) -- 12/10/12 -- Perma-Fix Environmental Services, Inc. (NASDAQ: PESI) today announced it has signed an exclusive commercial license for a patent-pending column generator technology that produces radioisotopes not derived from fissioned uranium.
The agreement follows execution of an option agreement signed in June 2011 and over two years of development by Perma-Fix of a proprietary manufacturing process for medical isotope production. Perma-Fix has applied for its own patents covering various steps of the process and will incorporate this exclusive technology into its process.
Perma-Fix intends to produce the important radioisotope Tc-99m, which is the most widely used medical isotope in the world, using these proprietary technologies to help ensure a reliable domestic supply. Tc-99m (and its parent Mo-99) is used in the nuclear medicine field for approximately six million diagnostic nuclear medical procedures performed each year, encompassing more than 30 radiopharmaceuticals for a wide variety of medical specialties including cardiology, gastroenterology, oncology, and psychiatry. We do not believe that there is a domestic source of Mo-99 at this time, and most of the United States' supply of Mo-99 is produced from the fission of enriched uranium in aging reactors, which is costly and raises proliferation concerns. In recent years, production issues resulting from employing aging reactors have caused severe worldwide shortages in the supply chain of Mo-99, disrupting medical procedures. The short half-life of Mo-99 (only 66 hours) prevents it from being stockpiled.
Perma-Fix's new Mo-99/Tc-99m production process encompasses the full production cycle. Unlike conventional methods, the new process produces Mo-99 using natural molybdenum irradiated in research or commercial reactors, which we believe offers important advantages over current production methods. These advantages include less radioactive waste and no fission product emissions during post-irradiation processing of Mo-99.
Dr. Louis F. Centofanti commented, "We appreciate the support we have received from our licensor in gaining access to its generator technology, and are pleased to solidify our exclusive commercial license. Perma-Fix is now focused on completing the final stages of commercial development, and looks forward to announcing additional milestones."
About Perma-Fix Environmental Services
Perma-Fix Environmental Services, Inc. is a nuclear services company and leading provider of nuclear waste management services. The Company's nuclear waste services include management and treatment of radioactive and mixed waste for hospitals, research labs and institutions, federal agencies, including the Department of Energy ("DOE"), the Department of Defense ("DoD"), and the commercial nuclear industry. The Company's nuclear services group provides project management, waste management, environmental restoration, decontamination and decommissioning, new build construction, and radiological protection, safety and industrial hygiene capability to our clients. The Company operates four nuclear waste treatment facilities and provides nuclear services at DOE, DoD, and commercial facilities, nationwide.
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" which are based largely on the Company's expectations and are subject to various business risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond the Company's control. Forward-looking statements generally are identifiable by use of the words such as "believe", "expects", "intends", "anticipate", "plans to", "estimates", "projects", and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: production of radioisotope Tc-99m and the advantages of using our process. These forward-looking statements are intended to qualify for the safe harbors from liability established by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. While the Company believes the expectations reflected in this news release are reasonable, it can give no assurance such expectations will prove to be correct. There are a variety of factors which could cause future outcomes to differ materially from those described in this release, including, without limitation, future economic conditions; industry conditions; competitive pressures; our ability to apply and market our technology relating to Tc-99m; receipt of regulatory approvals that may be necessary to produce and market Tc-99m; receipt of patents relating to our Tc-99m process; and the additional factors referred to under "Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements" of our 2011 Form 10-K. The Company makes no commitment to disclose any revisions to forward-looking statements, or any facts, events or circumstances after the date hereof that bear upon forward-looking statements.
Please visit us on the World Wide Web at http://www.perma-fix.com.
Contacts:
Company Contact:
Anne Smith
Perma-Fix Environmental Services
asmith@perma-fix.com
(865) 342-7668
Investor Relations:
David K. Waldman
Crescendo Communications, LLC
pesi@crescendo-ir.com
(212) 671-1021
European Investor Relations:
Herbert Strauss
herbert@eu-ir.com
+43 316 296 316
Released December 10, 2012