VisEn launches new imaging agent for monitoring key hypertension and renal disease biomarker

VisEn Medical Inc., a leader in fluorescence in vivo imaging from research through medicine, announced today the commercial launch of its new ReninSense680(TM) FAST imaging agent for measuring and monitoring a key hypertension and renal disease biomarker in vivo. The ReninSense680 FAST agent is based on VisEn's proprietary Fluorescence Activatable Sensing Technology ("FAST") platform and was developed to further complement a growing array of in vivo and in vitro biomarker readouts made possible by VisEn's fluorescence molecular imaging agents and tomographic imaging systems. Key ReninSense680 FAST results are to be presented at the World Molecular Imaging Congress (WMIC) on Saturday, September 26th in a presentation, titled "Near-Infrared Quantitative Fluorescence Imaging of Renin Activity in Kidney Tissue," by Dr. Jeffrey D. Peterson et al., VP Applied Biology at VisEn Medical.

The study by Peterson et al. reports on ReninSense680 FAST as a biologically targeted near-infrared activatable imaging agent designed to measure renin activity as part of the well-known renin-angiotensin biologic pathway. In the study, renin activity was assessed by quantifying the increase of ReninSense680 FAST signal in the kidneys in vivo using VisEn's FMT 2500(TM) quantitative tomographic imaging system. The results were further integrated with cell, tissue and serum-based readouts in vitro.

"This integrated study illustrates how ReninSense680 FAST targets to the kidney in vivo and is locally activated in models of renin upregulation, providing a powerful tool for localized in vivo measurement of changes in renin-angiotensin system (RAS) function," said Peterson. "This type of correlated in vivo-in vitro biomarker readout is becoming a standard in advanced research and drug development and we're enthusiastic about the rapidly increasing breadth and adoption of our fluorescence agent portfolio in mapping key biologic pathways."

The data will be presented on Saturday, September 26th 2009 as part of the "Novel Use of Imaging Probes" session in room 516 of the Palais des Congres de Montreal.

VisEn's proprietary fluorescence imaging agents and labels are designed to provide the industry's broadest and most robust range of biologically-specific imaging readouts in vivo. VisEn offers over 30 different fluorescence molecular agents for imaging key disease-associated biologic targets, processes and pathways. VisEn agent brands include ProSense(R), IntegriSense(TM), AngioSense(TM), OsteoSense(R), MMPSense(TM), Cat-K FAST(TM), Annexin-Vivo(TM), and now ReninSense FAST. VisEn also offers specialized lines of in vivo agent labeling platforms, including its proprietary VivoTag(R) fluorescence labeling dyes for custom agent development and its NanoSpark(R) labeling nanoparticles. They are all designed and optimized specifically for superior biocompatibility, brightness, stability and performance in in vivo imaging. All VisEn agents and labels are designed for in vivo biomarker quantification using VisEn's Fluorescence Molecular Tomography (FMT(TM)) imaging systems, or for general use along with other non-quantitative fluorescence in vivo imaging systems. VisEn agents are also designed to enable complementary in vitro biomarker readouts in cells and tissues using standard fluorescence microscopy and cellular-based imaging systems. With a focus on translational research and results, all of VisEn's technologies are designed to generate translational data linking pre-clinical research into clinical medicine.

Source: http://www.visenmedical.com