Preliminary results look positive for cardiac fatty acid PET imaging

FluoroPharma Medical, based in Montclair, N.J., announced yesterday that new results from an ongoing phase II clinical trial for F-18 FCPHA cardiac PET for the diagnosis of acute coronary artery disease (CAD) were positive and providing validation for further research.

Myocardial perfusion imaging with CardioPET and F-18 FCPHA is being studied for its ability to recognize areas of increased fatty acid uptake. The fatty acid analogs in this molecular imaging agent are used as fuel by the heart muscle in order for a cardiac-dedicated system to distinguish areas of diminished myocardial viability in chronic CAD sufferers.

“The results are very encouraging for fatty acid imaging,” noted Fabian Demeure, MD, from the University of Louvain in Louvain-La-Neuve, Belgium, via a release. “F-18 FCPHA was well tolerated and administered safely in study subjects at UC Louvain, part of a multicenter study in Belgium. F-18 FCPHA demonstrated rapid blood clearance with excellent image quality and image time was optimal; as early as three minutes post injection.”

The preliminary data was introduced during the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging Winter Meeting yesterday. Future presentation or publication of this study is yet to be determined.

"The ability to obtain images quickly has the potential to enhance the value of CardioPET relative to the current standard of care and grow beyond perfusion imaging into molecular cardiology," remarked Thijs Spoor, FluoroPharma chairman and CEO. "It is becoming increasingly clear that novel diagnostic imaging agents are urgently needed and we are focused on driving forward the development of our pipeline to provide healthcare professionals around the world with new products that expand and improve their diagnostic capabilities."