Profil Institute for Clinical Research, Inc., a CRO focused exclusively on metabolic diseases, and Antaros Medical, an advanced clinical imaging research and methodology company, announced a strategic collaboration to apply a broad range of noninvasive PET/MRI imaging techniques into pre- and postmarketing studies of cardiometabolic drugs and drug candidates.

Under the terms of the agreement, the companies plan to jointly design and conduct single and multicenter clinical studies that employ advanced PET/MRI applications to interrogate the mechanistic effects of novel therapeutics for diabetes, obesity, and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD/NASH). Additionally, the partners plan to assess the potential of functional imaging readouts as non-invasive biomarkers to assess the prognosis and progression, as well as predict responses to experimental therapeutic interventions, in metabolic diseases such as NAFLD/NASH.

“Advanced functional imaging techniques can yield unique mechanistic insights to enhance decision making in cardiometabolic drug development across important areas of clinical research such as heart failure, microvascular dysfunction, atherosclerosis, myocardial fuel metabolism, tissue specific insulin resistance, diabetic nephropathy and hepatic steatosis, inflammation and fibrosis,” said Johannes Hulthe, MD, PhD, Antaros Medical CEO. “By partnering with Profil Institute for Clinical Research, a leading metabolism-focused CRO with extensive expertise and experience in diabetes, obesity and NAFLD/NASH, we have created an exciting opportunity to work collaboratively at the forefront of innovation in cardiometabolic clinical research.”

“We’re very pleased to have Antaros join our network of Metabolic Research Partners, a group of select collaborators pursuing novel methodologies and setting high standards in cardiometabolic drug and device development,” said Dr. Christian Weyer, President and CDO of Profil Institute for Clinical Research. “The advanced functional imaging techniques developed by the Antaros team represent powerful methods for use in clinical trials, and valuable biomarkers indicative of disease activity and therapeutic responses, to better inform clinical and regulatory strategy and decision-making.”