HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill., March 5 (UPI) -- U.S. molecular device maker Siemens Medical Solutions and drug firm Wyeth said Monday they have made a deal to co-develop Alzheimer's therapies.
Siemens makes an imaging agent now in phase 1 studies, designed to seek out and identify the accumulation of amyloid plaques and neuronal tangles in the brain, the markers of Alzheimer's disease.
Siemens' positron emission tomography-based system would be the first brain imaging system that could differentiate Alzheimer's disease activity from other brain disorders.
Under the deal, Wyeth would use Siemens' PET system in developing new drugs to treat Alzheimer's.
"Molecular imaging is rapidly becoming an important element in the drug research and development process," said Michael Reitermann, president of molecular imaging at Siemens Medical Solutions.
"Molecular imaging is already revolutionizing the detection and diagnosis of diseases like Alzheimer's; and now, it is becoming an indispensable component in the development of exciting new drug therapies, improving patient health," he said.
PET uses imaging agents to characterize metabolic activity in cells by "lighting up" energy-consuming cells, allowing doctors to visualize and quantify the biology of diseases like cancer and Alzheimer's disease.
