Grant: Engage Grants Program

Molecular imaging (MI) is enabling health professionals and basic researchers to probe the function of andtreat disease at the molecular level. MI enables non-invasive studies into changes that take place during theonset and progression of disease, but also enables a personalized medicine paradigm by changing the waydisease is diagnosed, staged and treated. MI also allows for an economical assessment of the biodistribution fornovel drug candidates by providing a highly sensitive analysis of drug behavior once injected into the body.Herein we propose to develop a radiochemical process for the incorporation of carbon-11 (C-11) onto twopotential small-molecule drug therapeutics for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig'sdisease. C-11 is a positron emitting radioisotope used in positron emission tomography (PET) imaging, and itsincorporation will enable a real time for the biodistribution of the new ALS pharmaceuticals.Our goal is to leverage TRIUMF's unique radiochemistry and isotope production expertise to develop twonovel radiopharmaceuticals modeled after ImStar's lead drug candidates. These radiotracers will be madeavailable for future PET studies with a goal to better understand the biodistribution and mechanism of action ofdrugs for which the uptake and clearance are currently not well understood.The specific short-term objectives of this project will establish proof of feasibility radiochemistry for futureimaging studies using two C-11 labelled lead drug candidates. These radiopharmaceuticals will enable a betterunderstanding of brain uptake, whole-body distribution and clearance profiles for two new ALS drugcandidates.