Richland WA, Feb. 06, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Vivos Inc. (OTCQB: RDGL), Vivos today announced that the University of Missouri College of Veterinary Medicine will be the first Isopet® regional clinic. The Isopet® therapy will now be included as a treatment option within their extensive veterinary cancer therapy portfolio. Following our recently completed clinical study of Isopet® at the University of Missouri’s College of Veterinary Medicine, we are excited to announce that they have agreed to offer Isopet® as a commercially available therapy option. This makes MU the first regional center to offer Isopet® in addition to our Vista pilot clinic located in the state of WA.
As many of you saw this past weekend, a 30-second ad during the second quarter of Sunday’s Super Bowl game featured a Golden Retriever named Scout which highlighted the successful radiation therapy he received for his cancer at the University of Wisconsin’s School of Veterinary Medicine. The ad has been featured by news outlets worldwide and has gone viral on social media. Scout’s treatment used a form of external beam radiation therapy, which requires multiple therapy sessions spread over several weeks’ time as compared to Isopet®, which is a same day therapy. The treatment is also limited to much lower therapeutic dose than Isopet® in order to minimize damage to adjacent healthy tissue. We expect the Super Bowl add and the corresponding social media activity to raise awareness and generate more interest in cancer therapy at university veterinary hospitals.
During this past year, we have received multiple inquiries from pet owners who wanted to use Isopet® but were unable to fly long distances with their animals in the cargo hold. Adding this new treatment center will greatly enhance Vivos’ geographic coverage and increase the patient population with convenient access to Isopet® therapy.
As part of agreement with University of Missouri, we have agreed to make Isopet® commercially available to MU initially at a discounted rate to help expand the market for Isopet® therapy and generate additional treatment data to be shared with the veterinary community. Additionally, MU will have the flexibility to use Isopet® as monotherapy or in combination with other therapies to explore all options to increase the life of the pet patients. For example, Isopet® can be used as high dose therapy to treat the primary tumor combined with external beam for treating more distant margins.
Isopet® is an exciting new therapy with very low capital startup costs and available to veterinarian on demand. Vivos’ new agreement with the University of Missouri is an important step in our overall strategy to optimize the best approaches for each applicable cancerous tumor type and to expand the patient population and addressable market for Isopet® therapy.
About Vivos Inc. (OTCQB: RDGL)
Vivos Inc. has developed an Yttrium-90 based brachytherapy injectable device, for the treatment of tumors in animals (Isopet®) and in humans (Radiogel™). Brachytherapy uses highly localized radiation to destroy cancerous tumors by placing a radioactive isotope directly inside the treatment area using the company’s proprietary hydrogel formulation. The injection delivers therapeutic radiation from within the tumor without the entrance skin dose and associated side effects of treatment that characterize external-beam radiation therapy. This feature allows safe delivery of higher doses needed for treating both non-resectable and radiation-resistant cancers.
Isopet®® is a hydrogel liquid containing tiny yttrium-90 phosphate particles that may be administered directly into a tumor. The hydrogel is an yttrium-90 carrier at room temperature that gels within the tumor interstitial space after injection to keep the radiation source safely in place. The short-range beta radiation from yttrium-90 localizes the dose within the treatment area so that normal organs and tissues are not adversely affected.
Isopet®® also has a short half-life – delivering more than 90% of its therapeutic radiation within 10 days. This compares favorably to other available treatment options requiring up to six weeks or more to deliver a full course of radiation therapy. Therapy can be safely administered as an out-patient procedure and the patient may return home without subsequent concern for radiation dose to the family.
The Isopet®® Solutions division is using university veterinary hospitals to demonstrate the safety and therapeutic effectiveness for different animal cancers. The testing on feline sarcoma at the Washington State University was completed in 2018 and the testing on canine soft tissue sarcomas at the University of Missouri was completed in 2019.
The Company recently obtained confirmation from the FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine that Isopet®® is classified as a device according to its intended use and means by which it achieves its intended purpose. The FDA also reviewed the product labeling which included canine and feline sarcomas as the initial indications for use. The FDA does not require pre-market approval for veterinary devices so no additional approval is required for treating skin cancer, which is the largest market sector. Following this demonstration phase, Vivos can generate revenues through the sale of Isopet®® to University animal hospitals and private veterinary clinics.
Isopet® for treating animals uses the same technology as RadioGel™ for treating humans. The Food and Drug Administration advised using different product names in order to avoid confusion and cross-use.
The Company is also engaging the FDA for premarket clearance to market RadioGel™ for the treatment of advanced basal and squamous cell skin cancers in humans.
Safe Harbor Statement
This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. You can identify these statements by the use of the words "may," "will," "should," "plans," "expects," "anticipates," "continue," "estimates," "projects," "intends," and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause results to differ materially from those projected or anticipated. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the Company's ability to successfully execute its expanded business strategy, including by entering into definitive agreements with suppliers, commercial partners and customers; general economic and business conditions, effects of continued geopolitical unrest and regional conflicts, competition, changes in technology and methods of marketing, delays in completing various engineering and manufacturing programs, changes in customer order patterns, changes in product mix, continued success in technical advances and delivering technological innovations, shortages in components, production delays due to performance quality issues with outsourced components, regulatory requirements and the ability to meet them, government agency rules and changes, and various other factors beyond the Company's control.
CONTACT:
Vivos Inc.
Michael K. Korenko, Sc.D.
President & CEO
MKorenko@RadioGel.com