AC Immune ( NASDAQ: ACIU ) said it received a new grant of $0.5M from the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research (MJFF) to continue development of its diagnostic imaging agent ACI-12589 for Parkinson's Disease.
The company added that it has received continuous grant from MJFF since 2015 to develop its Morphomer-based alpha-synuclein (a-syn) positron emission tomography (PET) tracers, and the new award brings the total funding for this program to up to $3.7M.
The company noted that the grant will support ACI-12589 dosimetry studies in healthy people and GMP manufacturing, paving the way for expanded clinical development in-house and with third parties.
The grant will also support ACI-12589 PET scans in people to evaluate disease and target specificity, with the aim of assessing potential PET signal retention in people with a-syn-positive PD/dementia with Lewy Body versus people with expected a-syn-negative Alzheimer’s disease, progressive supranuclear palsy and spinocerebellar ataxia, the company noted in a Sept. 1 press release.
AC Immune added that if successful, a-syn PET tracer program could deliver the world’s first imaging agent capable of accurately detecting and monitoring progression of Parkinson’s disease.
ACIU -0.59% to $3 premarket Sept. 1
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AC Immune gets $0.5M grant to develop diagnostic imaging agent for Parkinson's