Avid Radiopharmaceuticals, a five year-old Philadelphia company founded by Dr. Daniel Skovronsky and focused on novel molecular imaging able to detect the early stages of Alzheimer's and a host of other degenerative brain diseases, will be acquired by global pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly.

A news release issued on Monday by the Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly says the deal could be worth up to $800 million, including a $300 million upfront payment for all outstanding shares of Avid. Skovronsky and company have made a big splash in Philly. The former scientific director at the University of Pennsylvania's Center for Neurodegenerative Disease Research earned Entrepreneur of the Year honors from Ernst & Young in 2009, the same year the company landed more than $34 million in investment.

"We've had a productive and long-standing relationship with Lilly, and believe in their approach to providing improved outcomes for individual patients," Skovronsky says in the release. The release also says Avid and its team will remain in Philly and will continue its support of ongoing clinical trials for other pharma firms. Avid recently submitted a marketing application to the FDA for florbetapir, a molecular imaging agent being investigated to detect the presence of amyloid plaque (a defining pathology of Alzheimer's) in the brain.

According to an Associated Press story, Eli Lilly halted development of semagacestat, a drug being studied as a potential treatment for Alzheimer's, so the Avid acquisition would give it a leg up in getting back in front of a market expected only to get larger.

Source: Eli Lilly, Avid Radiopharmaceuticals
Writer: Joe Petrucci