Siemens Healthcare is highlighting the publication of research data on its F-18-labeled T808 compound, which is being developed for PET imaging to selectively target the neurofibrillary tangles of tau protein that are a prominent hallmark of Alzheimer's disease.
The data appeared in the study "A Highly Selective and Specific PET Tracer for Imaging Tau Pathologies," published in the August issue of the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease. Siemens supported the study research in its entirety and is developing the compound as a potential PET imaging agent for commercialization.
A research team led by Hartmuth Kolb, PhD, vice president of molecular imaging biomarker research at Siemens Healthcare, designed, synthesized, and tested more than 900 compounds to identify F-18 PET tracers that possess strong binding affinity and selectivity toward tau protein tangles (J Alzheimers Dis, August 2012, Vol. 31:3, pp. 601-612).
In in vitro assays, the compound displayed a high level of binding affinity and good selectivity for tau aggregates over beta-amyloid plaques, Siemens said.
