GE Healthcare’s Life Sciences business has reached a deal for the exclusive rights from Rapidscan Pharma Solutions to commercialize Rapiscan (Regadenoson), used in the diagnosis of coronary artery disease (CAD), in territories outside the USA, Canada and Mexico.

This improved access to Rapiscan, the pharmalogical stress agent for radionuclide myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) in adult patients, will allow those who are unable to undergo traditional cardiac stress imaging procedures another option for screening.

MPI in a non-invasive imaging test also known as a nuclear stress test, that lets doctors see blood flows through a patients’ heart muscle. The test is usually given to a patient after they have exercised, but because some patients are at risk of CAD and unable to exercise, the pharmalogical stress agent will act as a stimulation to a patient's heart by creating the effects of exercise, thus reducing the risk of MPI tests.

“Rapiscan is a perfect fit for our current cardiac imaging agent portfolio, as it enables access to a critical diagnostic test to a large, under-served population of patients at risk of coronary artery disease,” said Emmanuel Ligner, general manager of core imaging for GE Healthcare’s Life Sciences business in a statement. 

GE Healthcare currently distributes Rapiscan in Germany and Austria.