Bayer expands into molecular imaging with 2 acquisitions
Bayer is expanding into molecular imaging with a recent acquisition, the radiology vendor announced Monday.
The company has reached a deal to purchase two investigational imaging agents from Attralus Inc., a Naples, Florida-based biopharmaceutical firm. Bayer said it recently inked definitive agreements to buy both AT-01, a PET imaging tracer, and AT-05, a SPECT agent, for an undisclosed sum.
The two drugs are in different phases of clinical trials, together focused on the diagnosis of cardiac amyloidosis—a serious condition where abnormal proteins build up in the heart muscle.
Bayer noted that the global market for radio-diagnostic tracers was valued at approximately $3 billion in 2024 and is projected to grow significantly in the coming years.
“With new therapies emerging for often insufficiently treated conditions such as cardiac amyloidosis, it becomes increasingly relevant to precisely detect and monitor diseases on the molecular level,” Nelson Ambrogio, president of radiology at Bayer, said in a Jan. 12 announcement. “Leveraging our expertise in medical imaging … [this acquisition] supports our ambition to expand in the growing field of molecular imaging,” he added later.
AT-01, the PET tracer, is the first pan-amyloid imaging agent with U.S. FDA Breakthrough Therapy Designation for cardiac amyloidosis, currently being tested in Phase 3 clinical trials. It also holds the “orphan drug designation,” providing financial incentives for addressing rare diseases, in both the U.S. and European Union. AT-05, the SPECT imaging product, meanwhile, is less developed, currently in Phase 1 trials, but represents an additional diagnostic option, Bayer noted, which could potentially broaden patient access.
Bayer said these two drugs have the potential address the urgent need for earlier and more accurate identification of cardiac amyloidosis. The rarely diagnosed and often fatal heart disease affects approximately 400,000 individuals globally, and inadequate pharmaceutical options often make it difficult to detect.
“We are excited to finalize this agreement with Bayer, whose expertise and global footprint in radiology will help to accelerate the development and launch of AT-01 and AT-05…,” Glen Firestone, president of Attralus, said in the same announcement. “Bayer’s commitment to scientific rigor and patient impact makes them well-suited to bring these agents to clinicians and patients worldwide,” he added later.
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.