US medical guru jumps into Radiopharm cancer fight

Radiopharm Theranostics has secured the services of United States-based Dr Dimitris Voliotis as its new chief medical officer in a bid to advance the company’s novel fight against aggressive cancers.

Management says Dr Voliotis comes to the company with almost 20 years of experience under his belt in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors across the US and Europe and has also spent 12 years pursuing academic research.

The recruitment of Dr Voliotis, who operates out of the US State of New Jersey, comes at a pivotal time for Radiopharm as it moves into in-human testing, given his involvement in the previous design and execution of several oncology trials. He also has experience spanning the often-laborious drug development process from phase one through to phase four.

The doctor’s background of substantial contributions to the radiopharmaceutical field – which includes recently heading up the clinical development of radiopharmaceutical business at Convergent Therapeutics – makes him a top pick for drug development within the burgeoning and lucrative sector. Of note, his submissions for new drug applications have resulted in the approval of four drugs across eight different oncology sectors.

Radiopharm Theranostics chief executive officer and managing director Riccardo Canevari said: "We’re very pleased to attract an experienced and knowledgeable leader of Dr Voliotis’ experience to the role of CMO at RAD. We are confident his hands-on approach, strategic thinking and interpersonal skills will be of significant benefit to the company and the development of our technologies.”

Radiopharmaceutical diagnostics and therapy are now at the cutting-edge of modern cancer treatments. By using radioisotopes attached to biological molecules that precisely target specific organs, tissues, or cells within the body, the approach allows drugs to deliver tiny, localised radioactive doses directly to cancerous cells, effectively destroying them one by one.

Together with leading universities and research institutes, Radiopharm has developed a diverse pipeline that includes peptides, small molecules and monoclonal antibodies that target aggressive brain and pancreatic cancers, in addition to lung, breast, prostate and kidney cancers.

Most recently, the company was granted approval by the US Food and Drug Authority (FDA) for late-stage human trials of its “RAD 101” agent designed to seek out and unearth a fatty acid that is overexpressed in brain tumours, but not in normal cells. Crucial investigational new drug (IND) clearance for a phase-2b is yet to be granted, although management believes Voliotis’ expertise in walking the approval path previously will be vital in the FDA process.

As Radiopharm pushes out the development of several new radiopharmaceutical agents aimed at combating various cancer types, the company has been bolstered by a significant influx of capital – $70 million from institutional fund managers and up to an additional $15 million from American medical giant, Lantheus. With innovative technology, robust financial backing and a highly-skilled team now in place, the company is well-positioned to hit the finish line hard in the race to bring new cancer treatments to market.

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