Bayer Schering Pharma signs neurodegenerative disease collaboration

Bayer Schering Pharma has announced that it has signed a collaboration agreement with Taisho Pharmaceutical, Nihon Nohyaku and the National Institute of Radiological Sciences (NIRS) in Japan for the development of innovative imaging compounds to be used in the detection of neurodegenerative diseases.

These diseases include Alzeheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and other conditions related to neuroinflammation.

Under the terms of the agreement, the company will receive exclusive rights for the development and marketing of compounds to be used with imaging technologies, such as positron emission tomography (PET) scanning. The patent rights for these compounds are owned jointly by Taisho Pharmaceutical, Nihon Nohyaku and (NIRS)

Dr Hans Maier, head of diagnostic imaging at Bayer Schering Pharma, commented that the company was convinced of the potential of advances in molecular imaging techniques to improve the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative disorders.

“Bayer Schering Pharma is already pursuing the development of tracer targeting amyloid plaques, a hallmark of the disease,” he said.

“Imaging of neuroinflammation as another important pathology will excellently complement these activities,” he added.

The company stated that this partnership underlined the company’s dedication to developing improved methods of diagnoses of Alzheimer’s disease.

Last November, Schering AG announced that it had started a joint research program for the development of innovative molecular imaging agents involved in the diagnosis of cancer, with a focus on identifying PET tracers to image tumours.