Telix Pharmaceuticals (ASX:TLX), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of diagnostic and therapeutic products based on targeted radiopharmaceuticals or 'molecularlytargeted radiation' (MTR), has announced a research collaboration with the Department of Nuclear Medicine and Tracer Kinetics at Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine.
The company said the collaboration is partially funded through a pilot grant from the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) through their Open Innovation Platform with Enterprises, Research Institute and Academia (OPERA) program.
It said the initial proof-of-concept funding totals ~USD$130,000 and the research collaboration will be managed through Telix’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Telix Pharmaceuticals Japan KK.
Under the research partnership, Telix will explore the feasibility of using several of its targeting agents with astatine.
Astatine is an 'alpha emitter', a very high-energy radionuclide that is capable of significantly altering the tumour micro-environment when attached to a molecular targeting agent that is specific for cancer cells.
The company said it is expected the initial research collaboration will pave the way to clinical studies in the near future.
According to Telix Japan President Dr Shintaro Nishimura, “It is a great honor for us to collaborate with Prof. Hatazawa and the team at Osaka University. There is considerable clinical and governmental interest in the use of alpha nuclide therapy in Japan because of its comparative handling safety, radiation profile and potential for excellent clinical utility in cancer patients. Japan is at the forefront of this research field because of the traditional aversion to using betaemitting radionuclides in cancer care.”
Professor of Nuclear Medicine Dr Jun Hatazawa added, “We are pleased to be working with Telix on alpha therapy here at Osaka University. These kinds of industry-academia partnerships are vital to evaluating the clinical utility of new technologies that have the potential to impact cancer care. We are particularly appreciative of the access to matched funding from the JST OPERA program.”
