Life Molecular Imaging Secures Funding from the Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF) to Further Investigate [18F]F-DED PET in Alzheimer's Neuroinflammation
Summary
The $2.16 million investment, spanning three years, will fuel the development of [18F]FDED, an investigational F18-labeled PET imaging agent designed to target monoamine oxidase B (MAO-B), a key enzyme linked to neuroinflammation.This ambitious research initiative is a collaborative effort with two world-class institutions, including the University Hospital of Ludwig-Maximilian University (LMU; Munich, Germany) and the Barcelona Beta Brain Research Center (BBRC, Spain), with experts in neurology, nuclear medicine, psychiatry, and stroke and dementia research.It is anticipated that using [18F]F-DED PET imaging during this project has the potential to provide critical insights into both sporadic and genetically predisposed AD patients, bridging the gap on the contribution of neuroinflammation between early and late stages of the disease.Until now, PET imaging of neuroinflammation has faced challenges due to genetic polymorphisms affecting ligand binding, leading to inconsistent results. "This new research, supported by the prestigious ADDF funding, provides a unique opportunity to investigate the spatial and temporal dynamics of neuroinflammation and its association with established biomarkers," said Andrew Stephens, Chief Medical Officer at LMI. ""PET-Imaging tools provide important insights into understanding Alzheimers disease and other neurodegenerative disorders and are integrated now into clinical care," says Howard Fillit, MD, Co-Founder and Chief Science Officer of the ADDF. The ADDF is the only public charity solely focused on funding the development of drugs for Alzheimers, employing a venture philanthropy model to support research in academia and the biotech industry. The ADDFs leadership and contributions to the field have played a pivotal role in bringing the first Alzheimers PET scan (Amyvid\xae) and blood test (PrecivityAD\xae) to market, as well as fueling the current robust and diverse drug pipeline.