Amyvid goes on sale in U.S., training programs launched

1: Negative amyloid PET study in an elderly patient with cognitive impairment indicates sparse to no neuritic plaques and is inconsistent with a neuropathological diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease. 2: Amyloid PET/CT study in a patient with cognitive impairment being evaluated for Alzheimer’s disease and other causes of cognitive decline shows a high level of tracer binding to amyloid plaques in the brain. Images obtained with Siemens Biograph mCT and evaluated with 510(k)-pending syngo.PET Amyloid Plaque software. Source: University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN

Eli Lilly and Avid Radiopharmaceuticals, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lilly, have announced that Amyvid is available to imaging centers in markets surrounding 16 manufacturing sites. To coincide with the availability of Amyvid, Lilly is also announcing the launch of their reader training program.

The locations are: Atlanta; Charlotte, N.C.; Chicago; Colton, Calif; Columbus, Ohio; Dallas; Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; Hartford, Conn.; Houston; Jacksonville, Fla.; North Wales, Pa.; Orlando, Fla.; Palo Alto, Calif.; Phoenix; Seattle; and St. Louis. Because Amyvid loses over half of its radioactivity every two hours, it must be distributed directly to imaging centers from the specialized radiopharmacies where it is produced, according to the companies. 

An online training program, developed by Lilly and Avid, is now available at AmyvidTraining.com. The companies also collaborated with the American College of Radiology to present a live, in-person training program, which will be launched on June 11 in Miami. These reader training programs were developed to provide training for radiologists and nuclear medicine physicians who will be responsible for reading Amyvid scans. Amyvid images should be interpreted only by readers who have successfully completed the Amyvid reader training, the companies said, because errors may occur in the estimation of plaque density during image interpretation.

Amyvid is a radioactive diagnostic agent approved by the FDA for PET imaging of the brain to estimate beta-amyloid neuritic plaque density in adult patients with cognitive impairment who are being evaluated for Alzheimer's disease and other causes of cognitive decline. Amyvid works by binding to amyloid plaques, and is detected using PET scan images of the brain.