Radiopharmaceutical firm Jubilant DraxImage has implemented a one-time price hike in the U.S. for two radiotracers used for diagnostic imaging.
The increase is designed to ensure the sustainability and long-term supply of macroaggregated albumin (MAA) and diethylenetriamine pentaacetate (DTPA) in the U.S. for ventilation/perfusion (V/Q) scans, according to the company. Jubilant DraxImage said it is the only supplier of MAA and DTPA in North America.
The MAA kit for the preparation of technetium-99m (Tc-99m) albumin aggregated injection is used to help evaluate pulmonary perfusion in adults and children, and it can also be used to evaluate peritoneovenous shunts in adults. The DTPA kit for the preparation of Tc-99m pentetate injection is used for kidney imaging, brain imaging, to assess renal perfusion, and to estimate glomerular filtration rate.
In a video message to customers, President Martyn Coombs said the company has been "losing money on MAA for many, many years, and we were faced with the position where we were losing money on every vial. We had to invest a lot of money to keep the product on the market."
The choice was either to stop manufacturing MAA, "which would've been a terrible situation for the medical community and for patients, or to invest a lot more," he said. "To do that, we need to make a one-off market-wide price adjustment."
Jubilant DraxImage plans to reinvest the additional funds to ensure the product is available and previous shortages are avoided. The changes will include a new manufacturing process, which the company will discuss with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Health Canada.
