Eli Lilly will share its knowledge on how to manufacture imaging agents and tracers used in PET scans. Credit: VesnaArt via Shutterstock.

Eli Lilly Saudi Arabia and King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Centre (KFSHRC) have teamed up to make KFSHRC’s Neuroscience Centre a top regional hub for Alzheimer’s disease treatment.

Part of the collaboration will focus on training healthcare professionals in Saudi Arabia about neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s. Eli Lilly will share knowledge on how to manufacture imaging agents and tracers used in positron emission tomography (PET) scans.

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PET scans are a crucial tool in Alzheimer’s diagnosis and research, allowing clinicians to visualise abnormal protein buildups – amyloid and tau – and detect reduced brain activity associated with the disease. By using specialised imaging agents, PET scans can help detect Alzheimer’s at an early stage, guide treatment decisions, and support the development of new therapies by tracking disease progression. 

One of the major hospitals in Saudi Arabia, the Riyadh-based KFSHRC serves as a hub for specialised treatments in the region. In September 2023, the hospital performed the world’s first-ever fully robotic liver transplant on a patient suffering from non-alcoholic liver cirrhosis. In July 2024, KFSHRC reported a 98% survival rate for 400 robotic cardiac surgeries performed at the hospital, since the programme’s initiation in February 2019. 

Lilly Middle East and Turkey president Irina Zaporozhets said: “By combining our expertise with KFSHRC, we aim to make transformative strides in diagnosing and treating Alzheimer’s in Saudi Arabia. This long-term strategic collaboration allows the production of amyloid and tau PET tracers for Alzheimer’s PET imaging in Saudi Arabia. It can improve patient outcomes and establish a foundation for ongoing regional Alzheimer’s research and innovation.”

Recent advancements have enhanced detection in Alzheimer’s care, such as integrating AI. Last month, South Korean company Neurophet partnered with biopharma AriBio to develop a platform designed to expedite Alzheimer’s diagnoses. Both companies aim to create a platform that can predict the risk of amyloid beta protein positivity early by conducting magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) analysis and blood-based biomarker tests instead of amyloid-PET scans.  

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In July 2024, researchers from the University of Cambridge in the UK developed an AI model that accurately predicts Alzheimer’s disease progression in four out of five cases using non-invasive data. The machine learning model utilises cognitive tests and MRI scans to forecast whether individuals with mild cognitive impairment will develop Alzheimer’s. 

According to a report on GlobalData’s Medical Intelligence Center, AI in medicine was worth $336m in 2022 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 29.1% to $1.2bn by 2027.