Radiopharm Theranostics looks set to fill its coffers with a healthy $18 million following a strategic equity investment and asset transfer deal with leading United States-based radiopharmaceutical company Lantheus Holdings.
Lantheus has agreed to make the initial strategic equity investment of $7.5 million in Radiopharm at an offer price of 0.5c per share – a whopping 47 per cent premium to the last closing price. The latter can then receive a further $7.5 million within six months on the same terms as the initial deal.
In a separate transfer and development agreement, Radiopharm has assigned and licensed two of its preclinical assets to Lantheus for an additional $3 million.
The assets include a monoclonal antibody that targets “LRRC15”, which is a substance produced by aggressive cancer cells and cells in the surrounding micro-environment, but not healthy normal tissue. The antibody is unique in its ability to kill both the cancerous tumour and micro-environment cells that make up most of the mass of a solid tumour.
The second asset is a nanobody that targets a calcium signal transducer known as “TROP2”, which is expressed differentially in many cancers.
In August 2022, Radiopharm confirmed it had entered a collaboration agreement with Lantheus for the development of “NM-01” – a nanobody made using genetically-engineered, single-domain antibodies capable of being tagged or labelled with radioisotopes to potentially diagnose and treat multiple tumour types.
Management says the net proceeds of the investment will be used for drug manufacturing, clinical trials and general working capital, including work on its ongoing study in the US for its patented “RAD301” radiopharmaceutical technology that is designed to detect lesions in patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) and create better health outcomes.
The treatment is being developed to bind to a specific cellular marker commonly found in cancer and the company believes it could also help with early detection. The marker is found in high density on most pancreatic carcinoma cells, which management says makes it an attractive diagnostic and therapeutic target.
The study is being conducted at the Montefiore Medical Center in New York’s Albert Einstein College of Medicine and will assess the safety, radiation dosimetry and imaging characteristics of RAD 301 in nine patients.
In October last year, the US Food and Drug Administration accepted Radiopharm’s revised investigational new drug (IND) application, allowing it to kick off the imaging trials. According to recent studies, 99 patients have previously been imaged with RAD 301 under compassionate use or as part of an investigator-initiated study, with no arising safety issues reported.
Radiopharm listed on the ASX in November 2021 following a $50 million IPO to enable it to focus on developing radiopharmaceutical products to both diagnose or image tumours and destroy them. The investment deal with a renowned partner such as Lantheus is likely tom add significant momentum to that mission.
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By Michael Philipps
