Radiopharmaceuticals
Novartis’ up to $1.1 billion acquisition of gene therapy specialist Kate Therapeutics fits with the pharma’s plan to expand its new modality pipeline to ensure long-term business sustainability.
The deal has secured Novartis the chance to work with Ratio Therapeutics on a novel drug candidate that could fortify the Big Pharma against competition from would-be radiopharmaceutical rivals such as BMS and Lilly.
Nucleus RadioPharma’s two sites are meant to help address the industry’s lack of manufacturing and development capabilities, as well as geographic limitations associated with the short half-life of many radioactive components.
Pharmaceutical companies are combining antibodies with radioisotopes in a bid to more precisely deliver radiation to cancers and tumors.
Thursday’s agreement with Orano Med is the second in as many months. Sanofi in September made its first foray into the radioligand space with a $110 million licensing deal with Orano Med and Texas biotech RadioMedix.
Big Pharma can’t seem to get enough radiopharmaceutical biotechs. With Lilly, Sanofi and BMS chasing Novartis into the complex space, all eyes are on these specialty biotechs.
Six months after treatment with the radiopharmaceutical therapy, 77.8% of patients with meningioma were alive and had not experienced further disease progression, beating the 26% benchmark established in earlier studies.
The European Society for Medical Oncology’s annual meeting this week featured the hottest emergent areas of cancer treatment—antibody-drug conjugates, bispecifics and radiopharmaceuticals—while anti-TIGIT therapies made a bit of a comeback.
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