Cardinal Health has entered into an agreement to manufacture and distribute Eli Lilly and Company's new diagnostic imaging agent, Amyvid, at seven sites throughout the US.
Amyvid, a radioactive diagnostic agent, tagged with a radioisotope called fluorine-18, is designed for the evaluation of cognitive impairment in adult patients who are being evaluated for Alzheimer’s disease and other causes of cognitive decline.
Amyvid binds to amyloid plaques, a necessary pathological features of Alzheimer’s disease, and is detected using PET scan images of the brain.
Eli Lilly said Amyvid loses over half of its radioactivity every two hours, so the sites that manufacture it need to be located in close proximity to hospitals and health centers that will use it.
Cardinal Health nuclear pharmacy services business president John Rademacher said the manufacturing and distribution of imaging agent will help clinicians and imaging professionals to expand their arsenal of tools to help in the evaluation of Alzheimer’s disease and other causes of cognitive decline.
"We consider it a privilege to have the opportunity to manufacture and distribute diagnostic agents like Amyvid because we know that each dose can aid our customers in the evaluation of patients," Rademacher added.
Cardinal Health said it will manufacture and distribute Amyvid, with a potential expansion to 12 locations by the end of 2012.