“The stable isotope “Water O-18″ is used as a raw material in the manufacture of the diagnostic agent 18 FDG used with Positron Emission Tomography (PET). It is becoming increasingly possible that the market for this will double from the 600kg in 2012 to 1,200kg 5 years hence in 2017. The per annum value could also double, going from 4.5 billion yen up to 9 billion yen.
The major reason for this market expansion is that at the beginning of last April the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the first time approved the application of the use for PET scans in examinations for Alzheimer’s disease. For quite some time now it has been proven that PET scans are effective in early detection of Alzheimer’s disease and early detection is of use in stemming the progress of the disease.

Alzheimer’s disease is a form of dementia whereby the nerve cells of the brain atrophy, causing memory impairment. The activity of the atrophied segments slows down, whereby signs of a decrease in glucose consumption appear. PET scans can be employed in examining the status of the glucose intake of the brain because they use FDG 18, an ingredient which has about the same metabolism as glucose. This makes it possible to detect Alzheimer’s disease early on, which can be achieved by neither CT (computer tomography) nor MRI (magnetic resonance imaging). The effectiveness of PET scans in coping with Alzheimer’s disease had therefore been proven, but there still remained the problem of the granting of approval for the use of PET scanning. Due to this, it did not go into actual use.

The main application of PET scans since the 90′s has been for detecting cancer as well as cranial nerve lesion and heart disease. Amidst all of this, in April of 2002 in Japan, PET scanning using FDG 18 became covered by insurance and as a result of this the demand for the Water O-18 stable isotope increased.

The approval of the use of PET scans for detecting Alzheimer’s disease noted above means the creation of a new demand for the Water O-18 stable isotope which is a drug used in producing FDG18. If the approval of PET scanning for Alzheimer’s disease were to spread from the US to Europe, Asia, and the Middle East the market of the Water O-18 stable isotope would expand even more.

Furthermore, in addition to Alzheimer’s disease, PET scanning has shown to be effective in early detection of Parkinson’s disease, leading to a tendency for application of the Water O-18 stable isotope to expand.

One more element pulling along the demand is the increase in patients using hospitals in the developing countries such as China and India due to the rise in income. While in the developed countries the demand for the Water O-18 stable isotope should continue its firm upward trend, in the developing countries it is expected that the number of outpatients will continue due to the sustained economic growth, so that the demand should therefore move along firmly.”