GE Healthcare has entered into research collaboration agreement with Eisai for use of GE Healthcare investigational PET amyloid imaging agent, flutemetamol, to select patients for a phase I clinical trial being conducted by Eisai.
The trial will assess Eisai's investigational compound E2609, a BACE (beta-site amyloid precursor protein-cleaving enzyme) inhibitor for the potential treatment of Alzheimer's Disease (AD).
The accumulation of beta amyloid in the brain is considered to degenerate neurons and is said to be one of several pathological characteristics concerned in the development of AD.
GE Healthcare Medical Diagnostics president and CEO Pascale Witz said that the AD is an important area of research for the industry and specifically for GE Healthcare.
"This partnership may ultimately support the market entry of important therapies, and potentially, expedited time to market because the right patients have been identified for participation in clinical trials," Witz added.
"Under terms of the agreement, GE Healthcare's proprietary software technology will be used during the trial to help support imaging data analysis."
