GE Healthcare and ImaginAb have entered into a master research agreement to develop a new positron emission tomography (PET) diagnostic imaging agents based on ImaginAb's antibody fragment technology to image high-risk cardiovascular disease.
ImaginAb is also developing a range of pre-clinical (animal imaging) reagents for use with microPET, microSPECT and optical imaging systems.
The company partners on a selective basis with biopharmaceutical companies with an interest in developing companion imaging agents for therapeutic antibody products.
GE Healthcare Research head Marivi Mendizabal said with the growing importance of biologics-based therapeutics in treating cancer and inflammation and their evolving understanding that cancer and cardiovascular disease are modulated by fundamental immune processes, they view this collaboration with ImaginAb as timely.
"Our vision is that technologies, such as the ImaginAb antibody fragment platform, will enable us to rapidly develop new targeted molecular diagnostics – not just for our own clinical portfolio, but as a ‘companion’ diagnostic offering to antibody/drug conjugate pipelines for our strategic biopharma partnerships," Mendizabal said.