CTI, Mobile PET launch European PET unit

CTI PET Systems (CPS), the joint venture between CTI and Siemens Nuclear Medicine Group, has expanded its partnership with Mobile PET Systems. The two companies announced last month the launch of a mobile PET operation that will serve European hospitals. Knoxville, TN-based CPS will provide an ECAT PET scanner.

Sparked by Mobile PET Systems’ successful debut of mobile PET services at the October European Association of Nuclear Medicine meeting in Barcelona, Spain, the deal makes San Diego, CA-based Mobile PET the first company to provide mobile ECAT PET imaging technology in Europe, the two firms said. Mobile PET expects to begin service within the next three months through Mobile PET Systems Europe, a joint venture it formed with Neuromed of Germany.

The deal adds to the momentum Mobile PET has been enjoying since December 1998 when the company went public, bolstered by a favorable reimbursement market for PET. In February, the firm bought five mobile coaches from Calumet Coach of Calumet City, IL, expanding its service capability, and in March, received a $10 million line of credit from Finova Capital, which it has used to cover the purchase of five Siemens ECAT Exact PET cameras (SCAN 2/17/99 and 3/31/99).