Center for Molecular Imaging and Therapy opened a new facility at the InterTech Science Park in Shreveport, Louisiana. The $19.5 million project is expected to create 25 jobs over the next five years.

The operation will consolidate research, radiopharmaceutical manufacturing and patient care under one roof. The new location will house state-of-the-art cyclotron and radiochemistry laboratories, as well as preclinical and clinical facilities that will help to expand molecular imaging and therapy care for a variety of oncological, neurological and cardiological conditions.

“With the new CMIT, Louisiana residents will have access to the most advanced molecular imaging and therapy care so they do not have to travel out of state,” Biomedical Research Foundation (BRF) President and CEO Dr. John F. George Jr. said. “The scientists and researchers at this facility, and at collaborating educational institutions and pharmaceutical companies, will be able to perform life-saving research, produce life-saving radiopharmaceuticals and perform cutting-edge diagnostic and therapeutic imaging for area patients and for those in the state and beyond.”

BRF’s history of medical innovation dates back to 1995, when it opened Louisiana’s first positron emission tomography (PET) center. That facility provided thousands of patients diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, distributed more than 188,000 radiopharmaceutical doses, and provided more than $30 million in free care to indigent and uninsured patients.

The announcement is the result of a partnership among BRF, the State of Louisiana, private donors, state and national partners, and community groups.

“The new Center for Molecular Imaging and Therapy will enhance Louisiana’s position in the increasingly competitive life sciences sector by attracting contracts from out-of-state entities that drive revenue streams and create high-paying jobs,” Louisiana Economic Development Secretary Don Pierson said. “I congratulate BRF on advancing molecular imaging care for Louisiana patients while promoting the kind of groundbreaking research and collaboration that the healthcare industry has come to expect from our state.”

The announcement is the result of a partnership among BRF, the State of Louisiana, private donors, state and national partners, and community groups.