NEW YORK – UK cancer diagnostics and therapies developer Theragnostics today said that it has licensed intellectual property from AstraZeneca covering the use of certain selected radionuclide-labelled Poly (ADP-Ribose) Polymerase inhibitors in the diagnostics field globally.
In addition, Theragnostics has an option to exclusively license the IP for therapeutic uses.
The Bracknell, UK-based firm is developing molecular radiotherapy products based on PARP inhibitors for imaging and treating cancer. It said that it is modifying PARP inhibitors with a radioactive atom, which can be used to image PARP in a cancer patient for diagnostic use or used to deliver a a targeted therapeutic dose of radiation into tumor cells.
Theragnostics also holds a license to radionuclide PARP inhibitor technology from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center through a deal signed in February earlier this year.
Gareth Smith, COO of Theragnostics, said in a statement, "We believe that a radionuclide PARPi therapy will work independently of DNA mutations associated with heightened PARPi activity, such as BRCA1/BRCA2 and will avoid development of treatment resistance. Therefore, the number of patients benefiting from PARPi therapy could significantly expand."
Further terms of the licensing agreement were not disclosed.