Houston TX, Nov. 01, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- RadioMedix Inc. (Houston TX) and AREVA Med (Plano TX) announced today that they have been awarded a collaborative Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Contract Grant by the National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute to evaluate targeted alpha-emitter therapy of neuroendocrine tumors (NETs). This is the fourth NIH grant awarded to RadioMedix during the last three years.
Targeted Peptide Receptor Radio Therapy (PRRT) of NETs is one of the main clinical focuses of RadioMedix, which has long been involved in several clinical studies as a co-sponsor or a collaborator. AREVA Med is focused on the production of lead-212 (212Pb), a rare metal used in TAT, and the development of therapeutics using this metal.
“We have established a very good collaboration with AREVA Med and we are very pleased that this work resulted in the SBIR grant award,” said Izabela Tworowska PhD, Principal Investigator and RadioMedix Chief Science Officer.” We have got promising preliminary results and we are confident that this grant award will accelerate the development of Targeted Alpha Therapy (TAT) agents. I am grateful to NIH NCI agency for selecting this project for funding”
“AREVA Med is very excited about its collaboration with RadioMedix that will further support the growth of our pipeline of 212Pb-labeled agents, especially in NETs where we believe we can bring substantial additional efficacy compared to current treatment options” said Julien Torgue, PhD, AREVA Med Scientific Director.
“We are confident that we have secured all resources needed to accelerate translation of targeted alpha therapy agents to clinic,” said Dr. Ebrahim Delpassand, CEO and Chairman of RadioMedix. “Our patients are anxiously waiting for this treatment, and we expect to launch a first in human clinical trial by the end of 2017.”
About Neuroendocrine Tumors
Neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) are a heterogeneous group of rare neoplasms that originate from neuroendocrine cells. These neoplasms occur mostly in the gastrointestinal tract and pancreas, but can also occur in other tissues including thymus, lung, and other uncommon sites such as ovaries, heart and ear. Most NETs strongly express somatostatin receptors (SSTRs), predominantly of the SSTR2 subtype, providing the basis of antisecretory and antiproliferative therapy with somatostatin agonists (SSA), such as octreotide or lanreotide. Peptide receptor radiotherapy (PRRT), using therapeutically radiolabeled SSTR receptor ligands, directed against SSTRs has shown highly promising outcomes, even in patients with advanced disease.
More about RadioMedix Inc.
RadioMedix, Inc. is a clinical stage biotechnology company, based in Houston, Texas, focused on innovative targeted radiopharmaceuticals for diagnosis, monitoring and therapy of cancer. The company is commercializing generator-produced radiopharmaceuticals based on Gallium-68 chemistry for PET imaging and therapeutic (Alpha and Beta) radiopharmaceuticals for targeted radionuclide therapy in cancer. RadioMedix has also established two service facilities for academic and industrial partners: cGMP Manufacturing Suite for human clinical trials and probe development and small animal Molecular Imaging Facility for evaluation of agents in animal models. More information at http://radiomedix.com.
More about AREVA Med
AREVA Med is the AREVA Group medical subsidiary formed in 2009 to develop new therapies to fight cancer. AREVA Med has developed a unique process to extract lead-212 (212Pb), a rare metal used in targeted alpha therapy (TAT), a novel approach which targets and destroys cancer cells, while limiting the impact on nearby healthy cells. AREVA Med collaborates with world-renowned scientific partners, and formed a strategic global alliance with Roche in 2012, to create a new advanced alpha radioimmunotherapy platform. More information at http://arevamed.com. Follow @AREVAmed on Twitter.