BERLIN and LAUSANNE, Switzerland, July 07, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Life Molecular Imaging and AC Immune SA (NASDAQ: ACIU) announce the publication of clinical data of the investigational Tau-positron emission tomography (PET) tracer PI-2620 in patients with progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP). The tracer is shown to be a promising biomarker for the improved detection and characterization of this currently untreatable, fatal disease.

The observational study, which is published now in JAMA Neurology1, is a multi-center evaluation led by nuclear medicine physicians and neurologists from Munich and Leipzig, Germany, together with researchers at study sites in New Haven, Cologne and Melbourne. The results indicate that PI-2620 could facilitate an earlier and more reliable diagnosis of PSP, where previous Tau tracers and other biomarkers failed. The accumulation of 4R Tau protein deposits in specific brain regions is a pathological hallmark of PSP. PI-2620 shows signals in those regions of PSP patients and allows excellent discrimination from disease controls at the single-subject level by both visual inspection and quantitative analyses of brain scans.

These new results in PSP further demonstrate PI-2620’s excellent characteristics as a strong diagnostic tool for studying Tau-related diseases following recent publications about its capabilities in early and more advanced Alzheimer’s disease2-6.
PI-2620 was discovered in a research collaboration with Life Molecular Imaging and AC Immune, Life Molecular Imaging has the exclusive world-wide license for research, development and commercialization of Tau-PET tracers generated within the discovery program. PI-2620 is currently under investigation in several clinical studies as a targeted radiopharmaceutical for the detection of Tau deposits in the human brain.

Dr. Andrew Stephens, Chief Medical Officer at Life Molecular Imaging, said: “This large multi-center study demonstrates the power of PI-2620 as a biomarker to study 4R Tau-related diseases like PSP. The detection and monitoring of the underlying Tau pathology with PI-2620 for both 4R-Tauopathies like PSP and corticobasal degeneration (CBD), as well as 3R/4R Tauopathies like Alzheimer’s disease will advance the field, leading to appropriate patient selection and monitoring target engagement in clinical trials of emerging therapeutic agents.”

Prof. Andrea Pfeifer, CEO of AC Immune SA, added: “This real-world study provides first evidence that PI-2620 could provide an earlier and more accurate diagnosis of PSP. Highly specific PET tracers are a critical tool in the patient pathway to achieve an accurate diagnosis, a particular challenge in the complex spectrum of neurodegenerative disorders and often not achievable through clinical presentation alone. Such capabilities would enable early, targeted therapeutic interventions for PSP patients and enhance the research community’s ability to better advance more effective treatments and cures.”

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