FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact Rosally Sapla, 212.751.3321

Prostate Research Imaging & Men’s Education Act Sponsored in Senate

First Major Prostate Imaging -Specific Authorization Would Provide $650 million to National Institutes of Health to Combat United States’ Most Common Major Cancer

Citing Epidemic Status, Racial Disparities and Success of Breast Cancer Imaging, Authorization Calls for Expansion of Research Grants and National Awareness Campaign

WASHNGTON D.C., June 29, 2007 – With the active support of the AdMeTech Foundation, Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) yesterday introduced S.1734, the Prostate Research Imaging and Men’s Education (or PRIME) Act. The Act, the first to directly support imaging technologies ($500 million) and in vitro diagnostics ($100 million) for their potential role in detection, diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer, would authorize $600 million over five years to the National Institutes of Health to combat this deadly disease – the most common major cancer in the United States. It also supports and related educational efforts ($50 million) to raise public awareness.

“We applaud Senator Boxer for her farsighted approach to cancer care – she was a champion in the battle to save women’s lives by advancing research and development of breast imaging technologies, and now she’s leading the fight to save men’s lives from a disease that strikes one in six,” said Dr. Faina Shtern, Director of Research at the Department of Radiology, Children’s Hospital Boston, Harvard Medical School, and President and CEO of the non-profit AdMeTech Foundation.

Specifically, the PRIME Act, calls for $500 million dollars over five years for expanded research into advanced, accessible and accurate imaging technologies that can detect, diagnose and help treat prostate cancer. These new technologies are expected to become the most accurate and effective means of diagnosing and treating prostate cancer.

The bill also calls for $100 million to improve the blood tests that are currently the most common and accessible form of prostate cancer screening. According to the National Cancer Institute current tests frequently result in false-negative reassurances and false-positive alarms. Some 15% of men who test for normal blood have these disease and 88% of men who appear to have issues in their blood end up not having cancer.

And finally, the Act would fund a $50 million dollar public education campaign to raise awareness of the need for prostate cancer screening, especially among African American males who are nearly 2.5 times more likely to die from the disease.

The bill was also sponsored by Senators Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Kerry (D-MA).

The AdMeTech Foundation will continue to work with Senators Boxer, Lautenberg and Kerry to advance this important legislation in Washington D.C. The PRIME Act is now pending in the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee.

“The commitment of the federal government is a crucial step in the development of the highly-accurate, non-invasive technology we need to save lives and to improve lives of our men. We salute Senators Boxer, Lautenberg and Kerry for their leadership, and we will do everything possible to help ensure that the right tools are made available to put an end to the fear, pain, suffering and costs that prostate cancer causes men and their families,” added Dr. Shtern.