Repligen (NASDAQ: [[ticker:RGEN]]) of Waltham, MA, has begun a Phase 3 clinical trial of an imaging agent that would enhance the ability of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to detect abnormalities in the ducts of the pancreas, the company announced today. The company believes that the study, being conducted at about 30 U.S. and Canadian sites, could provide enough data to warrant approval of the agent, which is a synthetic version of the hormone secretin. The agent could potentially be used during some 150,000 pancreatic scans in the U.S. each year, according to Repligen.