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Avid Radiopharmaceuticals Named Life Sciences Startup Company of the Year at 2007 Eastern Technology Council Enterprise Awards

Posted on: Tuesday, 11 December 2007, 12:00 CST

Avid Radiopharmaceuticals, Inc., a product-focused molecular imaging company, has been named the 2007 Life Sciences Startup Company of the Year by the Eastern Technology Council. Presented at the ETC's annual Enterprise Awards Gala at the Kimmel Center on December 6th, Avid was honored for its development of innovative molecular imaging agents, and achievement of significant management and company milestones.

Based in Philadelphia, PA, Avid has taken a leading role in the research and development of novel compounds for positron emission tomography (PET) imaging of amyloid plaques in the brain, and identified the potential for earlier and more effective detection, diagnosis and monitoring of brain disorders, including neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and Dementia with Lewy Bodies. This technology resulted from a close scientific collaboration between Avid and the laboratory of Dr. Hank Kung, a professor in the University of Pennsylvania Department of Radiology.

"We are honored to receive this award from the Eastern Technology Council," says Daniel Skovronsky, president and CEO of Avid. "This is a wonderful recognition of the research, product development, and business success we have achieved at Avid so far, as well as an indication of our potential for growth and opportunity to make a significant impact on the lives of patients and families suffering from neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's."

To advance its pipeline of novel molecular imaging agents, in May 2007, Avid received $26 million in Series C financing, co-led by AllianceBernstein Venture Fund and Safeguard Scientifics , with additional funding provided by Pfizer Strategic Investments Group, Lilly Ventures, RK Venture Group and BioAdvance.

The Enterprise Awards is the Eastern Technology Council's annual celebration of regional technology and life sciences companies and their leaders. The Life Sciences Startup Company of the Year Award honors a company that has operating results of three years or less. Key considerations for the award are: product innovation, including market need/assessment and potential for significant growth; the management team and its ability and record of achieving success; a demonstration of success such as achieving significant milestones, raising capital, revenue; and the company's R&D investment strategy.

About Avid

Avid Radiopharmaceuticals, Inc. is a product-focused molecular imaging company developing novel diagnostic imaging agents to enable earlier diagnosis and more effective treatment selection and therapeutic monitoring for patients affected by a range of major medical disorders. The company is a pioneer in the development of molecular imaging agents for Alzheimer's disease that could lead to earlier diagnosis and better evaluation of drugs designed to prevent or reverse amyloid plaque build-up in the brain. Avid's technology can be used with imaging technologies such as positron emission tomography (PET) and single photon computed tomography (SPECT). Avid is currently enrolling patients in clinical studies of 18F-PET agents for imaging amyloid plaques in Alzheimer's disease and for imaging the vesicular monoamine transporter (VMAT2) in diseases involving dopaminergic degeneration such as Parkinson's disease (PD) and Dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB). Recent research has shown that imaging VMAT2 may also be useful in monitoring the functional viability of beta cells of the pancreas, which could improve efforts to diagnose and monitor progression of diabetes mellitus. The VMAT2 imaging program has grown out of a close collaboration with the University of Michigan as well as the University of Pennsylvania. For more information, visit www.avidrp.com.

Source: Business Wire

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