Radiopharm secures vital cancer-fighting ingredient

Medical technology specialist Radiopharm Theranostics has strengthened the supply chain for a critical ingredient in its cancer-fighting treatments by inking a 10-year deal with an American supplier.

The agreement with NorthStar Medical Radioisotopes is for a radioactive medical isotope Actinium-225, also known as Ac-225, which is used in a wide range of cancer treatments.

Radiopharm specialises in developing radiopharmaceutical products to diagnose and treat cancers.

The emerging area of cancer treatment involves giving low doses of radioactive medication, attached to antibodies, into the patient’s bloodstream to target and then destroy cancer cells. Because the treatment is targeted only at the cancer cells, healthy tissue is unharmed.

Importantly, Ac-225 is one such medication and can be used across the full gamut of cancer treatments and Radiopharm says it will be used in trials for multiple disease areas.

The company has an impressive pipeline full of cancer-fighting treatments and expects to have five phase I clinical trials underway next year. Locking in supply of its medical isotopes is crucial to the successful progress of such trials.

In fact, the agreement is the second signed this year by the company, which only listed on the ASX late last year, to secure supplies of Ac-225. In January, it contracted a Bill Gates start-up called TerraPower for the same radioisotope.

Riccardo Canevari, CEO and Managing Director of Radiopharm Theranostics said: “It remains a priority for us to secure these key supply agreements, which allow us to continue with our clinical development unimpeded.”

“We are fortunate to lock in another outstanding partner such as NorthStar, who has proven itself as a reliable, high-quality supplier of medical radioisotopes.”

NorthStar is a commercial-stage nuclear medicine company based in Beloit, Wisconsin, who manufactures and distributes diagnostic and therapeutic radioisotopes and radiopharmaceuticals.

The supplier says it is expanding its industry-leading position in therapeutic radioisotopes used in radiopharmaceuticals to treat cancer, respiratory and other diseases and claims to be poised to be the first commercial-scale producer of Ac-225.

Earlier this month, NorthStar signed an agreement with a German specialist in radiopharmaceutical plant engineering, Eckert & Ziegler Isotope Technologies Dresden to build a manufacturing facility for Ac-225 in Wisconsin.

NorthStar CEO Stephen Merrick said he looked forward to supplying Ac-225 to Radiopharm to develop revolutionary therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals that have enormous benefits to patients with serious disease.

The effective date of the supply agreement between Radiopharm and NorthStar is 23 October 2022 however the initial order is not expected until the first half of 2024.

The supply agreement is for an initial period of 10 years and may be extended unless agreed otherwise by either party.

Radiopharm will own all the data generated and all inventions and discoveries made or conceived from its clinical trials.

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