The DRAXIMAGE radiopharmaceutical business unit of DRAXIS Health Inc. (TSX: DAX) (NASDAQ: DRAX) has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to run two clinical trials using radioactive Iobenguane I-131 Injection (also known as (131)I-metaiodobenzylguanidine, or I-131 MIBG) to treat high-risk neuroblastoma, a rare form of cancer that affects mostly infants and young children.

DRAXIMAGE will provide I-131 MIBG for two clinical trials approved by the FDA under a recently submitted Investigational New Drug (IND) application. One trial is a Phase II study in which I-131 MIBG will be administered with intensive chemotherapy and autologous stem cell rescue for high-risk neuroblastoma patients. The second trial is a Phase I study in which irinotecan and vincristine, two common chemotherapy agents, will be administered in combination with I-131 MIBG to determine safety and tolerability in patients with resistant/relapsed high-risk neuroblastoma.

Both clinical trials will be coordinated by a group of 11 children's hospitals and two universities in the United States known as the New Advances in Neuroblastoma Therapy (NANT) consortium. These two trials are continuations of earlier NANT studies. They are expected to start in December 2006 or early 2007. NANT member institutions are:

- C.S. Mott Children's Hospital, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor, MI

- Children's Healthcare of Atlanta - Atlanta, Georgia

- Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center - Seattle, WA

- Children's Hospital Boston, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute - Boston, MA

- Children's Hospital Los Angeles - Los Angeles, CA

- Children's Hospital Medical Center - Cincinnati, OH

- Children's Hospital of Philadelphia - Philadelphia, PA

- Children's Memorial Hospital - Chicago, IL

- Lucile Packard Children's Hospital - Palo Alto, CA

- Riley Hospital for Children, Indiana University - Indianapolis, IN

- Texas Children's Cancer Center, Baylor College of Medicine - Houston, TX

- University of California, San Francisco - San Francisco, CA

- University of Wisconsin Comprehensive Cancer Center - Madison, WI

Patients or caregivers seeking information about participation in the clinical trials can contact any of the NANT member institutions or go to nant

DRAXIMAGE will supply I-131 MIBG to the two clinical trials following a recent decision by the University of Michigan to no longer supply I-131 MIBG to these and other clinical trials. DRAXIMAGE produces I-131 MIBG at its radiopharmaceutical facility in Montreal, Canada.

About Neuroblastoma

The website of the American Cancer Society (cancer) lists neuroblastoma as the most common cancer among infants and the fourth most common type of cancer in children. There are about 650 new cases of neuroblastoma each year in the United States. Neuroblastoma most often begins during early childhood, with nearly 90% of cases diagnosed before the age of 5 years. Only about 2% of cases are found in children 10 years of age or older.

Neuroblastoma tumors usually occur in the abdomen, in nerve cells located within the two adrenal glands. The triangular-shaped adrenals are located above each kidney and they produce important hormones, including adrenaline, that help control heart rate, blood pressure, blood sugar and the body's reaction to stress.

About the NANT Consortium

The NANT Consortium is a group of 13 Universities and Children's Hospitals with strong research and treatment programs for neuroblastoma. Working closely together, they test promising new therapies for high-risk and relapsed neuroblastoma. The majority of funding for NANT comes from the National Cancer Institute. NANT conducts clinical trials that test new drugs and new combinations of drugs against high-risk neuroblastoma. Those with promising results will then be considered for more extensive national testing. For more information go to nant

About DRAXIMAGE

DRAXIMAGE develops, manufactures and markets diagnostic and therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals for the global marketplace. Products currently include a line of lyophilized technetium-99m kits used in nuclear imaging procedures and therapeutic products labeled with a variety of isotopes including radioiodine.

About DRAXIS Health Inc.

DRAXIS Health, through its wholly owned operating subsidiary, DRAXIS Specialty Pharmaceuticals Inc., provides products in three categories: sterile products, non-sterile products and radiopharmaceuticals. Sterile products include liquid and freeze-dried (lyophilized) injectables plus sterile ointments and creams. Non-sterile products are produced as solid oral and semi-solid dosage forms. Radiopharmaceuticals are used for both therapeutic and diagnostic molecular imaging applications. Pharmaceutical contract manufacturing services are provided through the DRAXIS Pharma division and radiopharmaceuticals are developed, produced, and sold through the DRAXIMAGE division. DRAXIS Specialty Pharmaceuticals Inc. employs approximately 500 staff in its Montreal facility.

For additional information please visit draxis.

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