Start Up Licenses Nuclear Imaging Drug Compounds

PET scanner (U.S. Department of Energy)

Clarity Pharmaceuticals Pty Ltd, a new company in Australia, has licensed technology developed by the University of Melbourne and the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO). The technology involves compounds developed by scientists from ANSTO and the University of Melbourne for use in positron emission tomography.

Positron emission tomography (PET) is a test that uses a special type of camera and a radioactive chemical tracer to look at organs in the body. The tracer usually is a substance such as glucose that can be used by cells in the body. PET uses the movement of these tracers through the body to examine metabolic processes, such as heart and brain functions, in real time.

Research teams from both the University of Melbourne and ANSTO have developed new compounds that improve the accuracy of PET imaging. These compounds can also be used in treatment to target therapeutics to specific disease sites and then to accurately monitor how well that treatment is working.