Positron, a molecular imaging solutions company focused on nuclear cardiology, announced that with the conditional FDA approval of Eli Lilly’s positron emission tomography (PET) imaging agent Amyvid (florbetapir), it expects to see an expanded market opportunity into neurologic imaging with its Attrius PET scanner.
On 20 January 2011, an advisory committee of the FDA voted to conditionally recommend approval of Eli Lilly’s PET imaging agent Amyvid for detecting beta amyloid plaque deposits that could be precursors to Alzheimer’s disease.
“Positron’s Attrius PET system is an ideal choice for brain imaging due to its small footprint and cost effective pricing, all without the need of traditional CT imaging. The approval of this new neurologic agent should afford a large market opportunity for our Attrius PET scanner. Positron’s current product offerings will be expanded to include this new neurologic market segment; we will continue to identify additional applications for our Attrius PET scanner,” said Patrick G. Rooney, chief executive officer of Positron.
According to the Alzheimer’s Association it is currently estimated that approximately five million Americans are affected by Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s disease is defined by the accumulation of beta-amyloid in the brain in form of plaques, and is thought to be caused by this accumulation. Eli Lilly’s product will have the ability to detect amyloid plaque and the future commercial availability of an anti-amyloid therapeutic agent will create a clinical need to identify Alzheimer’s disease patients with beta-amyloid.
