The launch of our new diagnostic for Parkinson’s disease, DaTSCAN, in Europe in September marked an important step in our evolution towards the commercialisation of disease-specific molecular diagnostic products. DaTSCAN specifically identifies the loss of the key chemical transmitter and hence can determine the patient’s clinical outcome. For the first time patients and physicians are able to objectively define the presence of Parkinson’s disease, distinct from Essential Tremor which has similar symptoms but a very different treatment regime. Currently, misdiagnosis occurs in a quarter of patients.

Omniscan, the leading non-ionic MRI product, continues to grow worldwide, with sales up 15 per cent to £66 million. In addition to its use in oncology and cardiology, its ability to identify early brain damage causing cerebrovascular diseases such as strokes, has led to increased usage.

Oncology
We have created a world-leading franchise in prostate brachytherapy through our portfolio of therapeutic products – OncoSeed™ and RAPID Strand™. In November, we added the leading palladium¹⁰³ brachytherapy seed, TheraSeed to our portfolio. Sales of these radiotherapies decreased by eight per cent to £48 million, largely due to the introduction of many new competitors to the market. Through a combination of innovation and scale, we expect to maintain market leadership. In Europe, sales of RAPID Strand, our patented seed product, doubled to £2.6 million. Sales of our total radiotherapy business were down 10 per cent to £65 million.

We intend to add further new products to the therapy portfolio in 2001, building upon our market leadership in prostate cancer and enabling us to broaden the products and services we offer based upon our expertise in oncology.

Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer that affects women in the western world and its earliest diagnosis has very beneficial clinical and social rewards. Additional claims have been submitted to the UK regulatory authority for the use of Myoview in diagnosing breast cancer and the feasibility of using Clariscan™ in differentiating cancerous from non-cancerous breast lesions is being evaluated in Phase II clinical trials.

Lung cancer is the most common cancer in the western world, with average survival from diagnosis of less than 12 months. We have added to our portfolio a new molecular diagnostic product, NeoSpect, that uses a radiopharmaceutical to identify the presence of a protein that only occurs in malignant lung tumours. European regulatory approval was granted in December, enabling marketing in early 2001 and complementing its presence (as Neotect™) in the US.

Spin Signal
We made significant progress in developing a technology system, known as Spin Signal™, originally based on hyperpolarised gases such as helium³ and xenon¹²⁹ , but now extended to carbon¹³ and nitrogen¹⁵ signals. These offer potential for in vitro and in vivo diagnostics as well as for drug discovery products and services, and we own and license exclusively an extensive patent portfolio. We are evaluating helium and xenon in Phase I and pre-clinical trials respectively, and are undertaking the research to augment carbon¹⁴ use with carbon¹³ for the drug discovery and drug metabolism markets.

Through Imanet™, an imaging research network recently established to exploit our SST and Positron Emission Tomography (PET) capabilities, we are pursuing collaboration agreements with leading pharmaceutical companies, who are seeking to license Spin Signal products for their R&D and marketing operations.

The Chief Executive's business review continues on the next page >>
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