NEW YORK – Theragnostics on Wednesday said that Novartis subsidiary Advanced Accelerator Applications has garnered an exclusive global license to develop and commercialize radiopharmaceuticals using its Gallium-68 (Ga-68) technology platform.
Theragnostics will receive an undisclosed upfront payment under the agreement and will also be eligible for future royalties on sales of resulting products.
Ga-68 radioisotopes are being used to diagnose prostate cancer via precision imaging. It can be used, for example, to identify patients with prostate-specific membrane antigen-positive tumors who can benefit from radionuclide therapy. Theragnostics conducted a Phase II trial of GA-68-THP-PSMA PET/CT to assess if it could diagnose high-risk prostate cancer patients and impact their management.
"Recent positive data for radioligand therapy in prostate cancer will likely lead to an increased demand of PSMA PET imaging," Ken Herrmann, a Theragnostics' board member, said in a statement. "This agreement with AAA represents another important pathway to meet the potential demand of PSMA PET imaging of patients in need."
Theragnostics Ga-68 platform allows Ga-68 radiopharmaceuticals to be produced in one step, where other Ga-68 products require multiple steps that can limit the number of doses available. By licensing the platform, AAA is hoping to maximize the GA-68 supply to support its pipeline of radiopharmaceutical products and the growing demand for these treatments.
AAA has several radiopharmaceutical products and imaging agents on the market, including Lutetium-177 (Lutathera), a treatment for gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors that are positive for the hormone receptor somatostatin and an imaging agent for certain brain and head and neck tumors, called Dopaview. The company is also studying radioligand therapies for prostate cancer, neuroendocrine tumors, and glioblastoma.