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Definity Secured 24 Percent of the Echocardiography Market Share for Enhanced Procedures in October 2008 Despite Being Added to the FDA Safety Issue List

Posted on: Monday, 8 December 2008, 07:00 CST

MALVERN, Pa., Dec. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Arlington Medical Resources (AMR), a provider of premier market intelligence for the pharmaceutical and diagnostic imaging industries, finds that Lantheus Medical Imaging's Definity(R), secured 24 percent of the echocardiography market share for enhanced procedures in October 2008 despite being added to the FDA's list of pharmaceuticals for safety issues on September 5, 2008. Definity is an ultrasound micro-bubble contrast agent administered intravenously and used for contrast enhancement during echocardiographic procedures.

The newly released edition of the U.S. Echocardiography Monthly Monitor also finds that GE Healthcare's Optison(TM) -- another type of micro-bubble contrast agent -- also gained market share during the same study period despite its black box warning.

"The gain in market share for Definity and Optison may be related to the recent formation of the International Contrast Ultrasound Society (ICUS)," stated Anna Fisher, analyst at AMR. "The ICUS was formed in September of this year in light of all the FDA black box warnings in the contrast ultrasound market. The Society's goal is to enhance the understanding of the effectiveness and safety of contrast ultrasound agents for cardiac and abdominal imaging."

Why Pharmaceutical & Medical Device Companies Need this Information

The U.S. Echocardiography Monthly Monitor enables pharmaceutical and medical device companies to monitor the utilization rates of echocardiography in the U.S. It is the timeliest data available to gauge movement and direction of the volume of echocardiography studies being performed and cardiac ultrasound contrast agent and pharmacological stressing agent usage.

About the U.S. Echocardiography Monthly Monitor

The U.S. Echocardiography Monthly Monitor is a monthly syndicated audit of echocardiography procedures, ultrasound contrast agents and pharmacologic stress agents used in hospitals and office-based cardiology settings. The study quantifies echocardiography procedure volumes on a national scale, split by type of echo, contrast/non-contrast, type of contrast and stressing method where applicable. The data is available 30 days after the end of each study month.

About AMR

AMR (http://www.AMR-data.com) serves the market intelligence needs of the pharmaceutical and diagnostic imaging industries. Research includes clinical inpatient databases that directly link anti-infective drug with indication/procedure, formulary and stocking status tracking studies, drug purchasing audits and diagnostic imaging procedure volume/contrast media usage audits. AMR is a Decision Resources, Inc. company.

About Decision Resources, Inc.

Decision Resources, Inc. is a cohesive portfolio of companies that offers best-in-class, high-value information and insights on important sectors of the healthcare industry. Clients rely on this analysis and data to make informed decisions. Please visit Decision Resources, Inc. at http://www.DecisionResourcesInc.com.

All company, brand or product names contained in this document may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.

SOURCE Arlington Medical Resources

Source: PR Newswire

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