Radiopharm Theranostics (ASX:RAD) has announced a collaboration agreement with Lantheus.
The company is developing a platform of radiopharmaceutical products for both diagnostic and therapeutic uses.
The new collaboration covers the development of NM-01. It is a nanobody made using genetically engineered camelid-derived single domain antibodies that can be labelled with radioisotopes to potentially diagnose and treat multiple tumour types.
In a separate and concurrent agreement, Radiopharm has acquired from NanoMab the imaging rights of NM-01 for the Chinese market and worldwide intellectual property rights for any therapeutic use (previously a licencing right).
Radiopharm said it will shortly initiate a Phase 1 therapeutic trial in Australia in patients with PD-L1 + non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
Radiopharm and Lantheus have agreed to cross-reference each other’s data to accelerate the development plans for the PD-L1 assets, including the development and regulatory process with the US FDA and other key regulatory agencies.
Lantheus holds the exclusive imaging rights to NM-01, apart from China, and recently commenced a Phase 2 clinical trial of NM01 to evaluate PD-L1 expression in NSCLC patients. It will provide the diagnostic product candidate of NM-01 to Radiopharm for use in its therapeutic clinical trials.
NM-01 will be used to assess PD-L1 expression during patient selection. In addition, under the agreement, Radiopharm and Lantheus have the option to expand their collaboration to additional assets and potential licensing opportunities in Radiopharm’s pipeline.
Radiopharm’s CEO and managing director Riccardo Canevari said, “We are excited to have entered a strategically important relationship with Lantheus. We look forward to seeing the results of the Phase 2 PD-L1 imaging trial and to continuing our relationship with Lantheus into the future.”
Lantheus’ chief business officer Etienne Montagut added, “We are pleased to enter into a strategic collaboration with Radiopharm to further the development of NM-01, our novel targeted PD-L1 imaging agent, as a clinical research tool. We believe NM-01’s unique potential to evaluate patients before, during, or after treatment with checkpoint inhibitors, will assist Radiopharm in the optimization of the development of its immuno-oncology therapy.”