Telix Pharmaceuticals’s collaboration with INSERM and ARRONAX can deliver products for greater clinical utility to cancer patients

Telix Pharmaceuticals, the specialist for radiopharmaceuticals or “molecularly-targeted radiation” (MTR), has entered into a research partnership with the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale or “INSERM”) and the “Accelerator for Research in Radiochemistry and Oncology at Nantes Atlantic” (ARRONAX).

Together, INSERM and ARRONAX have created a highly capable nuclear medicine research cluster in Nantes with a track record of cutting-edge translational research.

Under the research partnership, Telix will explore the feasibility of using several of its clinical targeting agents with astatine.

Astatine is an “alpha emitter”, a very high-energy radionuclide that is capable of significantly altering the tumour microenvironment when attached to a molecular targeting agent that is specific for cancer cells. Telix said that the agreement will fund sufficient staff and facility time to conduct a number of studies over a two-year period, including preparation for pilot clinical studies in the nuclear medicine department of University Hospital of Nantes.

Telix Europe President  Odile Jaume said: “The Nantes nuclear research cluster is one of the finest translational environments in Europe, with a particular strength and capability in astatine, including production facilities and processes that are capable of making materials for human research. This collaboration has the potential to expand the clinical utility of Telix’s technology and build a set of ‘next generation’ products that may deliver even greater clinical utility to cancer patients.”