NEW YORK – Telix Pharmaceuticals on Tuesday said it is collaborating with the southwest Ohio healthcare network Kettering Health to conduct studies involving its investigational, prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA)-targeting radioligand therapy, Illuccix.
The parties signed a memorandum of understanding to conduct late-stage clinical studies of Illuccix, which comprises Gallium-68 PSMA-11 for PET imaging and the radionuclide therapy Lutetium-177 PSMA, or TLX591. Telix and Kettering will initially explore the activity of the treatment in prostate cancer but will develop agreements defining other areas of collaboration based on the principles in the memorandum of understanding.
The partners didn't disclose the financial terms of the deal. However, they said in a statement they expect the collaboration to establish Kettering Health into a regional center of excellence for PET molecular imaging (MI) and theranostics. Kettering Health operates 13 hospitals, emergency centers, and outpatient facilities, including Kettering Memorial Hospital in Ohio.
"Telix and Kettering Health plan to work closely with multiple industry leaders, culminating in the rapid implementation of PET MI technologies (imaging and theranostics) into clinical services for patients in the region," the partners said in a statement. "The aim is to capitalize on the growing demand for PET MI, catalyzed by the exponential growth of new radiopharmaceuticals in the short term, and over the longer term, develop a continuous pipeline of new technologies for diagnosis and treatment of multiple diseases."
Bernard Lambert, president of Telix Americas, added in a statement that the firm's partnership with Kettering Health will engage industry, academic, and clinical experts toward exploring the potential of its PSMA-targeting radiopharmaceuticals.
Illuccix is Melbourne, Australia-headquartered Telix's lead investigational product that is currently being reviewed by the US Food and Drug Administration as a treatment for prostate cancer. In August, the company said it had added two new studies to the ProstACT research program for Illuccix — the Phase I SELECT trial comparing Gallium-68 PSMA and Lutetium-177 PSMA, and the Phase II TARGET trial of TLX591 and radiation therapy in patients with oligometastatic PSMA-expressing cancer.
Also in August, Telix and Merck KGaA said they were working together to study TLX591 and another molecularly targeted radiopharmaceutical, TLX250, with an undisclosed DNA damage response inhibitor being developed by Merck.