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GE, Lilly Team Up on Alzheimer ResearchPOSTED April 20, 2005 NISKAYUNA, NY -- The General Electric Company, through GE Global Research and GE Healthcare, along with Eli Lilly and Company, announced a joint research collaboration intended to accelerate the discovery and development of new diagnostics and therapeutics for Alzheimer's Disease. The research collaboration is intended to focus on beta-amyloid, a protein in the brain that is believed to play a key role in the progression of the disease. As part of the agreement, GE Healthcare will have access to Lilly's extensive molecular libraries to search for compounds that would be promising for use in targeted diagnostic imaging agents for Alzheimer's Disease. Lilly will then have access to any diagnostic agents developed by GE under this collaboration to use in discovery, development and validation of Alzheimer's Disease therapeutics from the early research phase through clinical trials. Neurology is a major development area for GE Healthcare. This agreement expands GE Healthcare's portfolio of Alzheimer's Diagnostic candidates, which includes Pittsburgh Compound B (PIB), an imaging agent licensed by the company from the University of Pittsburgh in 2003. GE Healthcare is currently developing targeted molecular diagnostics for a variety of neurological diseases, including Parkinson's Disease and Alzheimer's Disease By developing diagnostics and therapeutics simultaneously through the collaboration, scientists at both companies can accelerate their progress by sharing molecular libraries, research findings and other resources. "One of the toughest challenges with Alzheimer's Disease has been to develop a molecular diagnostic to determine objectively if someone has the disease prior to observed mental impairment," said Scott Donnelly, senior vice president of GE Global Research. "We are confident that this collaboration will result in a definitive molecular diagnostic for this disease that has been long overdue in the medical community." "Earlier diagnosis of Alzheimer's--before the advent of damage in the memory regions of the brain--has the potential to transform the treatment of this disease. A combined diagnostic and therapeutic regimen that would identify people with pre-symptomatic elevated levels of beta-amyloid proteins and plaques in their brain might enable physicians to prescribe a therapeutic to slow or stop the progression of the disease," said Steven Paul, executive vice president for science and technology and president of Lilly Research Laboratories. |
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