Press Release

IBt and Russian state fund set up joint venture to manufacture prostate cancer implants in Russia

Berlin, 09 April 2009. International Brachytherapy S.A. (IBt), an associated company of Eckert & Ziegler AG (ISIN DE0005659700), together with the Russian state fund Rusnanotech and local partners, will set up a joint venture to supply Russian prostate cancer patients with therapeutic implants and other innovative medical devices. A declaration of the establishment of "NanoBrachyTech", in which IBt will hold a minority share, was signed yesterday in Berlin.

The joint venture, which will be based in Moscow, wants to invest up to EUR 23.2 million in the next five years on acquiring manufacturing licenses, building a production facility and expanding the distribution network. The special systems for producing the weakly radioactive implants are to be obtained from Pankow-based Eckert & Ziegler BEBIG GmbH, a world leader in the field of automation technology for radioactive components.

 

"The fact that the people in charge in Russia have chosen IBt as their comprehensive partner and supplier for their modernization work in the healthcare sector provides proof of the Group's competence and the international recognition that the treatment of prostate cancer with weakly radioactive implants has now attained," said Andreas Eckert, chairman of the board of Eckert & Ziegler and supervisory board chairman of IBt. "For IBT, in addition, the joint venture demonstrates that interesting growth prospects for innovative radiation technology exist not only within the European core markets but also in markets which were previously underdeveloped, such as Russia."

 

The Eckert & Ziegler Group, which is predicting turnover of around EUR 100 million for 2009 and has approximately 520 employees, is one of the world's largest suppliers of isotope technology components for radiation therapy and nuclear medicine.

The Board of Directors