Alzheimer’s imaging gets the go-ahead

by Gary Finnegan – EMA Highlights – The first radiopharmaceutical for positron emission tomography (PET) imaging of β-amyloid neuritic plaque density has been approved by the EMA’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP).

β-amyloid plaques are associated with Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) and other causes of cognitive decline, and Amyvid (florbetapir 18F) is a diagnostic agent for patients who are being evaluated these neurodegenerative illnesses.

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia in the elderly, affecting up to 5.1 million people in the European Union. Accurate diagnosis of AD has been hampered to date by the lack of diagnostic tests, according to the EMA which said the current gold standard for confirming a clinical diagnosis of AD is post-mortem autopsy.

The advent of PET imaging using Amyvid offers hope of earlier detection of the physical markers of cognitive decline. A negative Amyvid PET scan can also rule out AD and is expected to reduce the frequency of ‘false positive’ diagnosis.