Merck and GE Healthcare Collaborate on Alzheimer's Disease Research

Thanh Le | | Radiology Business | Business Intelligence
Merck and GE Healthcare announced a clinical study collaboration to support the development of MK-8931, an oral beta amyloid precursor protein site cleaving enzyme (BACE) inhibitor and Merck’s lead investigative candidate for treating Alzheimer’s Disease. GE will license and supply [18F]Flutemetamol, an investigational PET imaging agent, to Merck for use in their clinical trials with MK-8931. Beta amyloid accumulation in the brain is an indicator of Alzheimer's Disease, but current methods of diagnosis cannot reliably measure beta amyloid deposits in the brain during the different stages of Alzheimer's, according to the press release. [18F]Flutemetamol has demonstrated consistency in visual detection of amyloid deposits in the brain and can enable clinical evaluation of the BACE inhibitor, which early results have shown to reduce beta amyloid formation. "“[18F]Flutemetamol imaging has the potential to be part of a larger diagnostic workup that may help doctors rule out Alzheimer’s disease by reliably showing the absence of amyloid deposits in patients with unexplained loss of cognitive function,” said Jonathan Allis, general manager, PET, GE Healthcare Medical Diagnostics, in the press release.

Thanh Le

Related Content

Orano Med breaks ground on $265M thorium production site
Image-interpretation market scoreboard: Radiologists 72%, others 28%
Lantheus lands rights to budding radiopharmaceuticals for initial outlay of $35M
17 short-term strategies to address the national radiologist shortage
‘SR’ onboards another independent practice, its 1st in the Natural State
Analysis: Allied radiology professionals generate millions of dollars per year in indirect revenues alone

Around the web

Health Imaging
Nearly $800,000 settlement offered to family of man who died during MRI exam

The patient, who was being cared for in the ICU, was not accompanied or monitored by nursing staff during his exam, despite being sedated.

Cardiovascular Business
Global shortage of nuclear imaging isotopes may be over

The nuclear imaging isotope shortage of molybdenum-99 may be over now that the sidelined reactor is restarting. ASNC's president says PET and new SPECT technologies helped cardiac imaging labs better weather the storm.

Cardiovascular Business
‘A huge win’: CMS significantly increases Medicare payments for cardiac CT

CMS has more than doubled the CCTA payment rate from $175 to $357.13. The move, expected to have a significant impact on the utilization of cardiac CT, received immediate praise from imaging specialists.