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AstraZeneca and Banner Alzheimer's Institute to Evaluate Radioligand

Posted on: Friday, 21 December 2007, 03:00 CST

The Banner Alzheimer's Institute and AstraZeneca have reported that they will collaborate to help advance understanding of Alzheimer's disease and increase knowledge of potential new avenues for treatment through the use of cutting-edge brain imaging methods.

The new alliance will focus on the evaluation and further development of a radioligand discovered by AstraZeneca. This radioligand is a molecule that binds to amyloid plaque protein deposits in the brain that are a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease, and allows the plaque to be measured in real time using a positron emission tomography (PET) scan.

Scientists at the Banner Alzheimer's Institute and AstraZeneca hope to use this new technology to find clues to how the disease progresses and affects the brain, offering a baseline for future studies. The information could potentially be used to monitor the effectiveness of existing treatments, reveal new therapeutic targets and enhance understanding of novel ways to curtail disease progression.

Bob Holland, vice president for neuroscience at AstraZeneca, said: "Collaborating with the world-class researchers at the Banner Alzheimer's Institute means that together we can generate invaluable insights about Alzheimer's disease and we hope that this will facilitate the invention and development of important new medicines to help patients afflicted with this dreadful disease."

Source: Datamonitor

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