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Amyloid imaging of the future may soon come to area memory centers

By Joel Ross | March 29, 2010

Avid Radiopharmaceuticals, Cardinal Health Reach Milestone In Alzheimer’s Research
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I have been writing over the past couple of years for the need for a reliable and safe biomarker (measurement of some biological product in this case) for Alzheimer’s Disease. Perhaps we now have one! Please read below:

Currently, Alzheimer’s disease cannot be definitively diagnosed until after death, when a brain autopsy is performed on a patient and evidence of beta-amyloid plaque deposits in the brain – which are a characteristic pathology of the disease – can be found. Accurate diagnosis during life can be challenging, particularly in the early stages of Alzheimer’s, when symptoms are mild and non-definitive. However, Avid Radiopharmaceuticals, Inc. (Avid) and Cardinal Health are working together to change that.

Avid and Cardinal Health today announced that more than 100 clinical centers and more than 700 patients have now participated in a Phase III clinical trial that is testing whether Avid’s molecular imaging agent Florbetapir F 18 can detect Alzheimer’s disease in living patients. Florbetapir F 18 (also known as 18F AV-45 and Florbetapir) is used with positron emission tomography (PET) technology to detect beta-amyloid plaque deposits in the brain.

A critical factor in the successful enrollment of patients in these extensive Florbetapir clinical trials has been Cardinal Health’s ability to manufacture and deliver fluorine 18 (F 18), the raw material needed to create imaging agents like Florbetapir. Because F-18′s potency quickly begins to diminish immediately after it is produced, it needs to be manufactured in close proximity to the clinical imaging sites where it will be administered to patients.

Operating the largest network of radiopharmacies in the United States, Cardinal Health can safely and efficiently manufacture and distribute F 18 to more than 85 percent of all U.S. hospitals within three hours. The company’s unmatched nuclear pharmacy scale, combined with its comprehensive fleet and logistics capabilities have played a critical role in enabling patients, hospitals, clinics and research facilities from around the nation to participate in Avid’s groundbreaking studies.

“Over the past two years, Cardinal Health’s broad network of nuclear pharmacy and manufacturing sites has allowed us to test the efficacy of important new molecular imaging agents like Florbetapir in clinical studies throughout the United States,” said Avid’s president and CEO, Daniel M. Skovronsky, MD, PhD. “This partnership has enabled us to effectively collaborate with imaging and neuropsychiatric specialists and the broader pharmaceutical industry to evaluate whether our Florbetapir beta-amyloid PET imaging agent can provide us a window into the Alzheimer’s pathological process at its earliest, pre-symptomatic stages.”

The two companies look forward to continuing to work together to realize their shared commitment to advancing the future of molecular imaging. “We’re proud to support Avid in its quest to leverage molecular imaging to change the way chronic diseases are diagnosed and managed,” said John Rademacher, president and general manager of Cardinal Health’s Nuclear Pharmacy Services business. “By working with forward-thinking innovators like Avid to quickly and cost-effectively evaluate the efficacy of agents in the clinical trial phase of their development, we hope to also play a key role in expediting novel imaging agents like Florbetapir into commercialization following their FDA approval.”

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Amyloid imaging of the future may soon come to area memory centers

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