Serac Healthcare is highlighting phase II data at the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) annual meeting suggesting that SPECT-CT imaging with its investigational radiotracer 99mTc-maraciclatide could differentiate active inflammation from fibrosis in patients with interstitial lung disease (ILD).
The 15-patient substudy, part of the Predict-ILD phase II clinical trial run by researchers at the University of Exeter, evaluated 99mTc-maraciclatide in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and fibrotic hypersensitivity pneumonitis (fHP) alongside healthy controls. Both patient cohorts showed distinct tracer uptake compared with healthy controls, with mean lung standardized uptake value significantly higher in the fHP cohort and numerically higher in the IPF cohort, according to Serac Healthcare. The more pronounced uptake in fHP, a condition in which active inflammation typically co-exists with fibrosis, compared with IPF, in which inflammation is not a defining feature, is consistent with the mechanism of action of the tracer, the company said.
99mTc-maraciclatide holds U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Fast Track Designation for both ILD and endometriosis indications. Phase III studies in ILD are being planned, Serac said.
