GE reports good results in Ph I PET agent trial

UK-based GE Healthcare, a subsidiary of the USA's General Electric, has reported positive results from a Phase I clinical trial of GE-067, an [18F]-labeled PET diagnostic imaging agent being developed by the firm to assist in the detection of brain beta-amyloid.

The results, presented at the International Conference on Alzheimer's Disease, Chicago, USA, show significantly greater brain uptake of GE-067 in Alzheimer's disease patients compared with healthy volunteers. The two-hour half-life of the [18F] labeled ligand offers potential for greater clinical accessibility compared with the research compound [11C] PIB, the firm says.

The Phase I study consisted of 22 subjects who were injected with the agent. Initially six healthy volunteers had whole body scans to determine the radiation dose. A further eight healthy and eight probable AD subjects had cranial scans with significant amounts of uptake being observed in probable AD brains compared to healthy volunteers. These initial results suggest that GE-067 could be used to detect amyloid pathology in vivo and contribute towards future diagnostic and treatment algorithms, subject to the performance of confirmatory studies.