General Electric and Eli Lilly Announce Research Collaboration to Combat Alzheimer's Disease.NISKAYUNA, N.Y. & INDIANAPOLIS -- Collaboration to Focus on Beta Amyloid amyloid /am·y·loid/ (am´i-loid) 1. starchlike; amylaceous. 2. the pathologic, extracellular, waxy, amorphous substance deposited in amyloidosis, being composed of fibrils in bundles or in a meshwork of polypeptide Research for Detection and Treatment of the Disease General Electric Company (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange : GE), through GE Global Research and GE Healthcare GE Healthcare is a $18 billion (USD) unit of General Electric (GE). It employs more than 46,000 people worldwide and is headquartered in Chalfont St. Giles, Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom. GE Healthcare is the first GE business segment headquartered outside the United States. , along with Eli Lilly and Company Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) is a global pharmaceutical company and one of the world's largest corporations. Eli Lilly's global headquarters is located in Indianapolis, Indiana, in the United States. (NYSE: LLY) today announced a joint research collaboration intended to accelerate the discovery and development of new diagnostics and therapeutics for Alzheimer's Disease Alzheimer's disease (ăls`hī'mərz, ôls–), degenerative disease of nerve cells in the cerebral cortex that leads to atrophy of the brain and senile dementia. . 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 Pittsburgh Compound B is a fluorescent derivative of Thioflavin T, which can be used in positron emission tomography scans to image beta-amyloid plaques in neuronal tissue. Due to this property, Pittsburgh Compound B may be used for the diagnosis of Alzheimer's Disease. (PIB See NIST binary. ), 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 Parkinson's disease or Parkinsonism, degenerative brain disorder first described by the English surgeon James Parkinson in 1817. When there is no known cause, the disease usually appears after age 40 and is referred to as 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 Scott Donnelly, born Hammersmith 25 December, 1987, is an English professional footballer who played for QPR. Despite a promising start to his professional career, he failed to make the grade at QPR, and was released by the club in January 2007. , 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 beta-amyloid protein n. An amyloid that circulates in human blood and in cerebrospinal fluid and is deposited into plaques found in the brains of patients with Alzheimer's disease. Also called amyloid beta-protein. 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 Lilly Research Laboratories is the organizational name of the global pharmaceutical research and development organization of Eli Lilly and Company, one of the world's largest pharmaceutical corporations. . GE Healthcare is helping accelerate the development of new therapeutics by enabling pharmaceutical companies to access cutting-edge diagnostic technologies to assess real-time the impact of potential drugs in the body. "GE Healthcare's strategy is to develop increased clinical value at the intersection of diagnostics and therapeutics," said Eric Stahre, Vice President and General Manager of Pharma Enterprise Clients, GE Healthcare. "Moving forward, we look to expand our activities with key pharmaceutical partners across a range of disease areas." About GE Healthcare GE Healthcare provides transformational medical technologies that are shaping a new age of patient care. GE Healthcare's expertise in medical imaging and information technologies, medical diagnostics, patient monitoring systems, disease research, drug discovery and biopharmaceuticals is dedicated to detecting disease earlier and tailoring treatment for individual patients. GE Healthcare offers a broad range of services to improve productivity in healthcare and enable healthcare providers to better diagnose, treat and manage patients with conditions such as cancer, Alzheimer's and cardiovascular diseases Cardiovascular disease Disease that affects the heart and blood vessels. Mentioned in: Lipoproteins Test cardiovascular disease . GE Healthcare is a $14 billion unit of General Electric Company (NYSE: GE) that is headquartered in the United Kingdom. Worldwide, GE Healthcare employs more than 42,500 people committed to serving healthcare professionals and their patients in more than 100 countries. For more information about GE Healthcare, visit our website at www.gehealthcare.com About GE Global Research GE Global Research is one of the world's most diversified industrial research organizations, providing innovative technology for all of GE's (NYSE: GE) businesses. Global Research has been the cornerstone of GE technology for more than 100 years, and is now focused on developing breakthrough innovations in areas such as molecular medicine, alternative energy, nanotechnology, advanced propulsion and security technologies. GE Global Research is headquartered in Niskayuna, New York Niskayuna is a town in Schenectady County, New York, USA. The population was 20,295 at the 2000 census. The Town of Niskayuna is located in the southeast part of the county, north and east of the City of Schenectady. and has facilities in Bangalore, India; Shanghai, China, and Munich, Germany. Visit Global Research at www.research.ge.com. About Lilly Lilly, a leading innovation-driven corporation, is developing a growing portfolio of first-in-class and best-in-class pharmaceutical products by applying the latest research from its own worldwide laboratories and from collaborations with eminent scientific organizations. Headquartered in Indianapolis, Ind., Lilly provides answers - through medicines and information - for some of the world's most urgent medical needs. Additional information about Lilly is available at www.lilly.com. |
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