FluoroPharma Expands Technology Platform to Include Agents for Alzheimer's Disease

FluoroPharma Inc. has announced that it has entered into a licensing agreement with Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) for the development and commercialization of agents for diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD).

The licensed technologies, which were co-developed by FluoroPharma and MGH scientists, target multiple biological processes associated with AD. Currently, there is no single diagnostic test that proves a person has AD. Development of new options for early detection and treatment of Alzheimer's has the potential to improve patient care and create new paths for AD management for the more than 5M Americans that suffer from dementia and other cognitive deficits as a result of AD.

"Our molecular imaging approach to AD includes multiple molecular compositions that target AD associated phenomena -- low acetylcholine and amyloid plaque formation. With some agents, it may be possible to improve brain function by inhibiting the breakdown of acetylcholine, and with others we may be able to prevent the formation of amyloid plaque by inhibiting protein misfolding. As PET imaging tracers, these agents also have potential applications in both diagnosis of the disease and monitoring of the therapy, by differentially accumulating in regions of the brain affected by the disease compared to normal brain tissue," explained Dr. David Elmaleh, FluoroPharma's Chairman and Scientific Founder.

"The technology has the potential to be highly effective due to the agents' enhanced accumulation in the brain," said Dr. Kundakovic, FluoroPharma's President. "As PET imaging agents, these compounds may provide valuable information in patients where early diagnostic and therapeutic information is likely to have the greatest benefit."