Enigma Biomedical inks deal to develop tau PET biomarkers

Enigma Biomedical Group USA (EBG-USA) has signed an exclusive agreement to commercialize AbbVie’s tau PET imaging biomarkers for use in patients with suspected neurodegenerative disease.

Under the agreement, EBG-USA and AbbVie will collaborate with EBG-USA’s academic and pharmaceutical partner network to validate preclinical and clinical PET ligands during an initial evaluation period. If the evaluations are favorable, EBG-USA has the option to negotiate an exclusive license agreement with AbbVie for the PET ligands.

Misfolded tau protein in the brain is a common feature of several neurodegenerative diseases, including progressive supranuclear palsy and corticobasal degeneration, EBG-USA said. Tau ligands labeled with F-18 radioisotopes are used as radiotracers during PET imaging to visualize this pathology.