IsoRay Stock Price Through the Roof

IsoRay Inc’s (ISR – $2.42) stock price went through the roof this week as it announced the world’s first successfully completed pediatric implant using IsoRay Medical’s Cesium-131 brachytherapy mesh.

We first featured IsoRay on Smallcaps Investment Research two months ago at 75 cents because we felt that a company with such a valuable technology and an FDA approved product was significantly undervalued with a market cap of only $30 million. Although it’s gone way faster than expected, it’s nice to see that the market recognizes these facts.

Dr. Anthony Crimaldi at Levine Cancer Institute, Charlotte, NC, said “The patient was a 12 year old male who was diagnosed with recurrent metastatic Wilms tumor (a type of childhood kidney tumor) in the pleural space of the lower aspect of his left chest. Prior to this he had been treated extensively, but nevertheless the cancer returned.

Due to previous irradiation of his chest (specifically whole lung irradiation), the patient was not a candidate for either SBRT (stereotactic radiosurgery) or proton therapy for treatment of this lesion. Although surgical removal of the tumor was possible, radiation therapy was needed in this case to treat the surgical bed.

I worked closely with IsoRay to design a custom mesh containing Cesium-131 sources and we were able to place the mesh at the time of surgery so as not to expose critical organs to high doses of radiation (lung, spinal cord, and aorta). Post-treatment dose calculations were performed confirming the delivery of dose to the resection bed and sparing of the critical structures. The patient recovered normally and has been discharged home.

The process of designing the treatment mesh was done with the assistance of the IsoRay team, and was quick and simple (done with the use of cross-sectional imaging). The mesh was designed, manufactured, and arrived for placement in less than 1 week.”

Dwight Babcock IsoRay’s Chairman and CEO stated: “When cancers become locally advanced, they recur frequently after surgery. Radiation is therefore performed, but the amount of radiation required to successfully treat the disease is often limited with existing technologies and has the potential to increase negative side effects to the patient. With the Cesium-131 seeded mesh we can get the optimal dose to the area of concern at the time of surgery — which we think is a real benefit for the patient.”

Recent innovations in cancer surgery have allowed surgeons to remove less healthy tissue than in years past. In these cases, however, radiation therapy becomes a critical addition to the treatment of the cancer. IsoRay Medical supplies multiple radiation based products that can be used at the time of surgery to deliver this needed radiation, ensuring direct irradiation of the cancer-involved target while minimizing the damaging effects of radiation on healthy tissues.

This is a definite breakthrough for IsoRay. And it again confirms the value of the Company’s technology. After this week’s run-up, we wouldn’t buy more shares. And if you bought shares when we first featured the stock at $0.75, consider taking some money off the table.

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