Radiopharm Theranostics Ltd (ASX:RAD) has secured key agreements with leading diagnostics and biopharmaceuticals companies Lantheus and Nanomab – a strategic collaboration to develop the NM-01 imaging agent and a licensing agreement for imaging rights in China and worldwide IP rights for NM-01, respectively.
NM-01 is a nanobody made using genetically engineered camelid (camel)-derived single domain antibodies, that can be labelled with radioisotopes to potentially diagnose and treat multiple tumour types.
Radiopharm’s initial targets for diagnostic imaging with the nanobody are HER-2, TROP-2, and PD-L1, which are all proteins associated with cancer.
The company intends to initiate a Phase 1 therapeutic trial in Australia for patients with PD-L1 and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) to test the diagnostic potential of NM-01.
Radiopharm and Lantheus have agreed to cross-reference their data to accelerate development of PD-L1 assets, including the completion of regulatory processes with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and other regulatory agencies.
“Strategically important relationship”
“We are excited to have entered a strategically important relationship with Lantheus,” Radiopharm Theranostics CEO and managing director Riccardo Canevari said.
“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.”
Under the collaboration agreement, Lantheus 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.
“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,” Lantheus chief business officer Etienne Montagut said.
“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.”
As part of a broader collaboration with NanoMab, Radiopharm’s acquisition of the NanoMab PDL1 IP will be at no cost for Radiopharm Theranostics.
Read: Radiopharm Theranostics acquires IP for three cancer-fighting nanobodies targeting solid tumours