The use of PET scans (positron emission tomography) for identifying and evaluating cancer is well-known. Most of the millions of PET procedures currently performed in the U.S. every year relate to cancer diagnosis. But developers are now hot on the trail of other applications for this one-of-a-kind technology that has the potential for letting doctors and researchers see even the most minute biological processes, events happening at the cellular and molecular level, to spot disease processes long before they manifest themselves in traditional ways.
Today researchers at FluoroPharma Medical, a developer of imaging agents used in conjunction with PET scanning, are fast developing agents that can be used to detect diseases of the heart and arteries, in addition to processes that have been linked to Alzheimer’s Disease. Coronary artery disease (CAD) and Alzheimer’s together represent huge potential markets for imaging agents. The need for such radioactive tracers is expected to reach $900 million within the next 5 years. The hope is to have multiple tracers for these diseases, each one with its own unique and beneficial qualities, providing a multiple set of tools for viewing the disease process.
The scope of such opportunities is now attracting some of the world’s biggest players. Eli Lilly and their subsidiary, Avid Radiopharmaceuticals, just announced FDA approval of Amyvid, a radioactive diagnostic agent for brain imaging of beta-amyloid plaques in patients with cognitive impairment who are being evaluated for Alzheimer’s Disease and other causes of cognitive decline. Amyvid binds to amyloid plaques, a hallmark characteristic of Alzheimer’s Disease, and is detected using PET scan images of the brain.
FluoroPharma’s own amyloid deposit imaging agent is a molecule that targets and binds with amyloid protein, and is labeled with Fluorine 18 to make it show up in PET scanning. Such diagnostic tools offer a greatly improved level of diagnosis for Alzheimer’s. Currently, approximately one in five patients clinically diagnosed with probable Alzheimer’s Disease end up having no Alzheimer’s pathology at autopsy.
For more information, see the company website at www.FluoroPharma.com
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