Researchers at the NIH Clinical Center developed a new fungal-specific imaging ligand that exploits fungal-specific metabolic pathways absent in mammalian cells or bacteria to rapidly diagnose a live fungal infection in any patient and are seeking a collaborator to further develop this technology. Attend a free webinar to learn about the technology and hear from NIH inventors, Dima A. Hammound, MD, and Rolf Swenson, PhD. 

Fungal infections remain a major health burden with very high mortality and morbidity in immunosuppressed cancer and transplant patients, and in some congenital immunodeficiencies. A recent report estimated global mortality from fungal disease to be greater than 1.6 million, which is similar to that of tuberculosis; and greater than 3-fold that of malaria. Yet, despite the magnitude of the problem, diagnosing a fungal infection in a patient is difficult because there are currently no clinically available fungal-specific imaging agents.

FCB:

• Shows specific uptake by pathogenic fungi, mostly molds (Aspergillus, mucor species) as it is hydrolyzed only by fungal beta-glucosidases and is not metabolized by bacterial or human enzymes.
• Demonstrates a high fungal infection imaging signal compared to normal tissues.
• Can be used to detect the presence of a fungus shortly after infection, thus providing early, specific diagnosis without the need for invasive procedures, such as biopsies, fine-needle aspirates or bronchoalveolar lavage.
• Can be used to monitor the infection in vivo and assess whether there is response to antifungal treatments in real time.

Competitive Advantages

• Rapid diagnosis of live fungal infections in any patient.
• Distinguish between fungal infection and other diseases such as tumors, inflammation or bacterial infections.
• Capacity for national and international distribution, via an easy-synthesis chemistry kit.

Commercial Applications:

• Fungal metabolism-based imaging agent, specific for pathogenic fungal molds versus current Standard of Care.
• Non-invasive patient imaging procedure providing rapid diagnosis and ability to monitor treatment.
• Easily synthesized from commercially available FDG.

The webinar will take place on Wednesday, May 28, 2025, from 11am to 12pm ET. 

Who should attend?

• Business development professionals
• Parties interested in scouting for technologies to diagnose fungal infections
• Biotech/pharma/academia researchers
• Investors and entrepreneurs

Why attend?

• Assess co-developing the technology
• Interact with the inventor, ask questions and provide feedback
• Learn how to partner with the NIH facilitated by the NCI Technology Transfer Center

If you are interested in learning more about how to co-develop and/or license this technology, please contact Michael.Salgaller@nih.gov or view the abstract: PET Imaging Agents for Fungal Infections.

If you are interested in other technologies from these inventors or technologies related to fungal infections, you can view them on our website.