Tucson, Arizona, August 1st, 2020: Microvascular Therapeutics (MVT), a biotechnology company based in Tucson, AZ, was recently awarded a Phase I Small Business Innovation Research grant from the National Institute of Aging (NIA), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Wyatt Unger, MD, MBA, President and CEO of MVT said, “We are excited about this novel therapeutic application of our product. Worldwide, nearly 50 million people have Alzheimer’s disease and 1-in-10 American over 65 has the pathology. We have developed a new ultrasound contrast agent which enables detection of Alzheimer’s and combined with ultrasounds can disrupt Amyloid-b and Tau aggregates. We aim to develop a molecularly targeted ultrasound contrast agent to detect early stage Alzheimer disease and potentially treating it using focused ultrasound.”
The co-founder of MVT, Dr Evan C Unger, previously developed Definity®, the worlds #1 selling ultrasound contrast agent which is FDA approved for echocardiography (imaging the heart). MVT has developed a new, improved ultrasound contrast agent, MVT-100, which is currently in clinical testing and is being supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, part of the NIH. MVT is modifying the MVT-100 microbubble for Alzheimer detection by incorporating a derivatized positron emission tomography (PET) agent into the microbubbles.
The Alzheimer’s Association estimates about 5 million of American are currently living with Alzheimer’s and that by 2050 this number is projected to rise to 14 million. Alzheimer’s disease is the 6th leading cause of death in the United States. In 2020, Alzheimer’s and other dementias will cost the Nation $305 billion. “The team at MVT will work with Theodore Trouard, PhD and Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Arizona and key opinions leaders in Arizona including Roberta Brinton Diaz, PhD Neuroscientist and Director of the University of Arizona Center for Innovation in Brain Science at the University of Arizona Health Sciences and Eric Reiman, MD Executive Director of the Banner Alzheimer’s Institute (Phoenix). At MVT we are aiming at making a difference, especially for women who are more affected by the disease” said Emmanuelle Meuillet, PhD, VP of Research and Development at MVT.
For further information contact Wyatt Unger at w.unger@mvtpharma.com
About Microvascular Therapeutics (MVT)
Microvascular Therapeutics is a biotechnology company based in Tucson, Arizona and is a leader in microbubble technology. MVT's mission is to develop the next generation of contrast agents for diagnostic ultrasound and advance the field of ultrasound for diagnosis and treatment of disease. The chemists at MVT have developed a new, patented formulation that may potentially serve as a platform for development of agents for molecular imaging and image-guided therapy. (www.mvtpharma.com).
Disclaimer:
Research reported in this press release is supported by the National Institute of Aging of the National Institutes of Health under the award number 1R43AG067894-01. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.
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