Singapore- Telix Pharmaceuticals Limited, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of diagnostic and therapeutic products based on targeted radiopharmaceuticals or “molecularly- targeted radiation” (MTR), has announced a research collaboration with the Department of Nuclear Medicine and Tracer Kinetics at Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine.

The collaboration is partially funded through a pilot grant from the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) through their Open Innovation Platform with Enterprises, Research Institute and Academia (OPERA) program. The initial proof-of-concept funding totals ~USD$130,000 and the research collaboration will be managed through Telix’s wholly owned subsidiary, Telix Pharmaceuticals Japan KK.

Lead by Prof. Jun Hatazawa, the Department of Nuclear Medicine and Tracer Kinetics at Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine is one of Japan’s leading nuclear medicine departments, with particular expertise in the use of alpha nuclides for cancer therapy. Under the research partnership, Telix will explore the feasibility of using several of its targeting agents with astatine. Astatine is an “alpha emitter”, a very high-energy radionuclide that is capable of significantly altering the tumor micro-environment when attached to a molecular targeting agent that is specific for cancer cells. It is expected that the initial research collaboration will pave the way to clinical studies in the near future.

Telix Japan President Dr. Shintaro Nishimura stated, “It is a great honor for us to collaborate with Prof. Hatazawa and the team at Osaka University. There is considerable clinical and governmental interest in the use of alpha nuclide therapy in Japan because of its comparative handling safety, radiation profile and potential for excellent clinical utility in cancer patients. Japan is at the forefront of this research field because of the traditional aversion to using beta-emitting radionuclides in cancer care.”