Siemens' subsidiary PETNET Solutions Inc. has inked a deal with Eli Lilly and Company to gain U.S. manufacturing and distribution rights for an investigational PET imaging agent that could help manage patients with suspected Alzheimer's, should the drug get a green light from the Food and Drug Administration.

The agent, Amyvid, was rejected by the FDA in March over concerns about reader training, but a Lilly spokeswoman told DOTmed News that the company has re-filed with the FDA and expects a response from the agency by the middle of next year.

The companies announced the deal Monday, and Lilly confirmed with DOTmed News that it would involve Amyvid.
If approved by the agency, the drug, also called florbetapir F18, would be the first clinical agent approved to measure beta-amyloid plaque deposits linked with Alzheimer's in living patients. It was developed by Avid Radiopharmacueticals, which was bought last year by Lilly.

Lilly said the distribution rights would be non-exclusive. However, the Indianapolis-based company said it would also consider expanding its commercial agreement with PETNET to cover international markets, such as Europe. But for now, the company hasn't disclosed any European plans.

PETNET and Avid had already worked together previously on Amyvid. In April 2010, the companies said PETNET had created doses for clinical trials involving the agent.

Siemens acquired PETNET, the world's biggest PET imaging agent network, when it bought its parent company, CTI Molecular Imaging Inc., in a 2005 deal valued at about $1 billion.

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