UPDATE 1-Molecular Insight shares jump on imaging agent data

(Recasts; adds analysts' comments, updates share movement)

By Anand Basu

BANGALORE, June 17 (Reuters) - Shares of Molecular Insight Pharma Inc (MIPI.O: Quote, Profile, Research) surged as much as 80 percent on Wednesday, a day after the biopharmaceutical company said its imaging agent, Trofex, had the potential to both detect and treat metastatic prostate cancer.

"They can kill two birds with one stone," Boenning & Scattergood analyst Debjit Chattopadhyay said.

"If you compare it with current standard of care, it's a very dramatic advancement."

Typically, a patient needs to go through five different tests -- including magnetic resonance imaging, bone scan and ultrasound -- to find the metastasis, while Molecular Insight's product can collect the data within 2 hours of the injection, Chattopadhyay said.

Trofex, which is in an early-stage trial, has the potential to treat metastatic prostate cancer when labeled with a therapeutic isotope, the company said.

"Right now, they are using an iodine isotope which is meant for imaging, but they can easily change the isotope to another iodine isotope which is used for therapy," Chattopadhyay said.

The company said two Trofex compounds rapidly detected metastatic prostate cancer lesions in soft tissues and bone.