Flortaucipir (F), sold under the brand name Tauvid, is a radioactive diagnostic agent indicated for use with positron emission tomography (PET) imaging to image the brain.
The most common adverse reactions include headache, injection site pain and increased blood pressure.
Two proteins – tau and amyloid – are recognized as hallmarks of Alzheimers disease. In people with Alzheimers disease, pathological forms of tau proteins develop inside neurons in the brain, creating neurofibrillary tangles. After flortaucipir (F) is administered intravenously, it binds to sites in the brain associated with this tau protein misfolding. The brain can then be imaged with a PET scan to help identify the presence of tau pathology.
It is the first drug used to help image a distinctive characteristic of Alzheimer's disease in the brain called tau pathology. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) considers it to be a first-in-class medication.