GE reports positive results for PET amyloid imaging agent
GE Healthcare presented positive results from a phase I clinical trial of GE-067, a [18F]-labeled PET diagnostic imaging agent being developed by the company to assist in the detection of brain beta-amyloid, Tuesday at the International Conference on Alzheimer’s Disease (ICAD) in Chicago.
Principal investigator Rik Vandenberghe, MD, from the University of Leuven in Belgium, said the results show significantly greater brain uptake of GE-067 in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) patients compared with healthy volunteers. The two-hour half-life of the [18F] labeled ligand offers the potential for greater clinical accessibility, compared with the research compound [11C] PIB, according to GE.
The phase I study (presented using the chemical number [18F] AH1100690) consisted of 22 subjects, who were injected with the agent GE-067.
According to researchers, six healthy volunteers initially had whole body scans to determine the radiation dose; a further eight healthy and eight probable AD subjects had cranial scans with significant amounts of uptake being observed in the probable AD brains compared to the healthy volunteers. The initial results suggest that GE-067 could be used to detect amyloid pathology in vivo and potentially contribute towards future diagnostic and treatment algorithms, subject to performance of confirmatory studies, according to GE.
“We were excited to see the results from this phase I study with GE-067 and as a result have initiated a larger study with manufacturing and scanning centres across Europe. We also plan to extend our studies to the United States,” said Don Black, head of research and development, medical diagnostics at GE Healthcare.
Principal investigator Rik Vandenberghe, MD, from the University of Leuven in Belgium, said the results show significantly greater brain uptake of GE-067 in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) patients compared with healthy volunteers. The two-hour half-life of the [18F] labeled ligand offers the potential for greater clinical accessibility, compared with the research compound [11C] PIB, according to GE.
The phase I study (presented using the chemical number [18F] AH1100690) consisted of 22 subjects, who were injected with the agent GE-067.
According to researchers, six healthy volunteers initially had whole body scans to determine the radiation dose; a further eight healthy and eight probable AD subjects had cranial scans with significant amounts of uptake being observed in the probable AD brains compared to the healthy volunteers. The initial results suggest that GE-067 could be used to detect amyloid pathology in vivo and potentially contribute towards future diagnostic and treatment algorithms, subject to performance of confirmatory studies, according to GE.
“We were excited to see the results from this phase I study with GE-067 and as a result have initiated a larger study with manufacturing and scanning centres across Europe. We also plan to extend our studies to the United States,” said Don Black, head of research and development, medical diagnostics at GE Healthcare.