Nuclear medicine supplier NorthStar Medical Radioisotopes (Beloit, Wis.) is working with clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company Inhibrx (San Diego) to develop and distribute novel radiopharmaceuticals for treating cancer.
The collaboration could position NorthStar as the first commercial-scale producer of promising drugs containing the radioactive element actinium-225, which has been in short supply, according to an announcement sent by Inhibrx Jan. 4.
Under the agreement, NorthStar will procure actinium-225 supplies while also preparing Inhibrx patient doses for clinical studies. The longer-term plan is for NorthStar to eventually manufacture and supply radionuclides for Inhibrx’s commercial use, Inhibrx says.
The combination of precision-targeted, single-domain antibodies innovated by Inhibrx with NorthStar’s ample actinium supply “has the potential to enable development of novel targeted radiopharmaceutical therapies that may provide accessible, effective options for cancer treatment,” Inhibrx adds.
NorthStar CEO Stephen Merrick says his company’s manufacturing capacity and actinium expertise, combined with Inhibrx’s in-development therapeutic cancer drugs, will “advance the field of targeted alpha therapies” that can kill cancer cells while sparing healthy surrounding tissue.
“We have sufficient Ac-225 production capacity to meet the demand of all of our existing supply agreements, and our location affords us the flexibility to scale further as market demand increases,” Merrick adds.
Full announcement here.
In other imaging industry news:
OncoNano Medicine (Southlake, Texas) has won Breakthrough Therapy designation from the FDA for a candidate nanoprobe the company is developing for use in image-guided cancer surgery (Jan. 4). The nanoprobe, called pegsitacianine, is pH-sensitive, fluorescent and designed to offer surgeons real-time visualization of cancer cells that may otherwise go undetected.
Samsung subsidiary NeuroLogica (Danvers, Mass.) is partnering with the University of Dundee in Scotland to advance photon-counting technology in CT imaging using a NeuroLogica scanner (Jan. 4). U of Dundee neuroradiology chair Iris Grunwald, MD, PhD: “[W]e are currently witnessing one of the largest innovations in medical imaging in the last decade.”
GE HealthCare has begun trading as an independent company on the Nasdaq exchange. To mark the occasion and showcase its completed spinoff from General Electric, the company remotely rang the opening bell at Nasdaq from its manufacturing facility in Waukesha, Wis. (Jan. 4). GE HealthCare president and CEO Peter Arduini: “We are on the verge of true industry transformation as digital innovation reshapes the experience of patients and providers with an increased need for more precise, connected and efficient care.”
Dave P. has worked in journalism, marketing and public relations for more than 30 years, frequently concentrating on hospitals, healthcare technology and Catholic communications. He has also specialized in fundraising communications, ghostwriting for CEOs of local, national and global charities, nonprofits and foundations.