- Starget’s Smart Targeted Radioligand (STR) Theranostics Enable Precise Targeted Delivery of Highly Focused Molecular Radiation Directly to Cancer Cells while Minimizing Damage to Healthy Tissues
- Lead Program DOTA-PTR-58 Was Developed Using Starget’s Proprietary Peptide Backbone Dynamics Platform that Leverages Backbone Cyclic Innovations and In-Silico AI to Rapidly Design Highly Specific Ligands
TEL AVIV, Israel and HOUSTON, Oct. 23, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Starget Pharma (Starget), a clinical stage biotechnology company developing precision peptide radioligand therapies, and Cancer Focus Fund, LP, a unique investment fund established in collaboration with The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (MD Anderson) to provide funding and clinical expertise to advance promising clinical therapies, today announced a $5.1 million investment from Cancer Focus Fund to support a Phase 1b clinical trial of Starget’s lead theranostic, DOTA-PTR-58. The trial will target tumors overexpressing somatostatin receptor type 3 (SSTR-3), including sarcomas, neuroendocrine tumors (NET), melanoma, and hepatocellular carcinomas. The trial will be conducted at MD Anderson and other centers and will begin enrolling patients in early 2025.
Targeted theranostic radiotherapy combines diagnostic imaging with targeted treatment to provide personalized care for advanced metastatic cancers. Using patient data, theranostics precisely targets tumor cells, delivering localized radiotherapy that can either generate diagnostic images or directly destroy cancer cells. This approach offers greater precision and a wider therapeutic window than conventional radiation therapy.
“This investment validates the potential of our smart targeted radioligands to provide safer and more effective therapies for challenging cancers,” said Sigal Kalmanson Cusnir, CEO of Starget Pharma. “Our Backbone Dynamics technology enables us to transform peptides into next-generation radiopharmaceuticals with enhanced properties. We look forward to collaborating with MD Anderson on this Phase 1b trial of DOTA-PTR-58, a first-in-class theranostic that has demonstrated both safety and tumor uptake in early studies. We believe our proprietary technology offers significant advantages over existing radioligand therapies, particularly for advanced cancer patients with limited options.”
Starget’s Backbone Dynamics technology is an innovative peptide radioligand drug design platform that uses proprietary backbone cyclization to create molecules with enhanced stability, selectivity, and pharmacokinetics. The platform accelerates the design of new radioligand candidates, facilitating the rapid development of cancer therapies with enhanced efficacy and safety.
“Starget Pharma’s novel STR technology exemplifies the potential cancer breakthroughs we seek to support,” said Ross Barrett, a founder and Managing Partner of Cancer Focus Fund. “Recent successes with peptide-based radioligands have begun to realize the promise of this approach, and Starget’s proprietary Backbone Dynamics technology further advances these gains by enhancing peptide diversity and optimizing candidate selection for a variety of difficult-to-treat cancers.”
Jordi Rodón, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Investigational Cancer Therapeutics at MD Anderson, will serve as Principal Investigator of the Phase 1b trial.
About DOTA-PTR-58 and SSTR-3
DOTA-PTR-58 is a first-in-class superagonist radioligand with sub-nanomolar affinity targeting selective somatostatin receptor type 3 (SSTR-3), a receptor highly expressed across multiple tumor types including sarcoma, melanoma, NET and hepatocellular carcinomas. Unlike the more commonly used target SSTR-2, SSTR-3 shows lower expression in normal tissues, offering a broader therapeutic window. DOTA-PTR-58 comprises a theranostic pair: Imaging with a Ga-68 isotope and therapy with a Lu-177 isotope. A follow-on program will include Imaging with a Ga-68 isotope and therapy with an Ac-225 isotope. The molecule demonstrates high in vivo tumor uptake and internalization, selectivity and significant antitumor activity.
About Starget Pharma
Starget Pharma is a clinical stage company developing a pipeline of radiotherapy programs generated using its proprietary Backbone Dynamics peptide platform that leverages backbone cyclic innovations and in-silico AI to rapidly design highly specific Smart Targeted Radioligands (STRs) that deliver focused radiation for the imaging and treatment of cancer. These STR’s are designed to engage novel and validated tumor-specific targets with either alpha or beta isotopes. Starget’s lead program targets SSTR-3, a somatostatin receptor that is overexpressed in tumor cells compared to healthy tissues and has enhanced cell internalization compared to other tumor targets. First-in-human data has demonstrated promising safety and good tumor uptake. A Phase 1b trial is expected to begin in early 2025 at MD Anderson and other centers. Beyond its lead program, Starget has a robust pipeline encompassing novel tumor targets and isotopes, offering first-in-class and best-in-class potential for a variety of metastatic cancers. For more information, visit stargetpharma.com.
About Cancer Focus Fund
The Cancer Focus Fund LP is a unique investment fund established in collaboration with The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (MD Anderson). The fund provides investment support to advance promising cancer therapies that are close to being tested in humans or are in early clinical development, as well as the clinical trial expertise and infrastructure of MD Anderson and strategic partners Ochsner Health System Precision Cancer Therapies Program New Orleans and the LSU Feist Weiller Cancer Center Shreveport. The Fund's objective is to leverage this unique combination to provide investors with superior risk-adjusted returns. In collaboration with partner MD Anderson, the Cancer Focus Fund provides both capital and translational research expertise with the goal of accelerating the development of novel cancer therapies that result in better outcomes for patients while generating returns for investors.
Disclosures
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center’s relationship with Cancer Focus Fund, and all research conducted at MD Anderson related to Cancer Focus Fund, has been identified as an institutional financial conflict of interest by MD Anderson’s Institutional Conflict of Interest Committee and therefore is managed under an Institutional Conflict of Interest Management and Monitoring Plan.
Contacts
Starget Pharma
Corporate:
Sigal Kalmanson Cusnir
Chief Executive Officer
sigal@stargetpharma.com
Media:
ir@stargetpharma.com
Cancer Focus Fund
Corporate:
Ross Barrett
Managing Partner
ross@cancerfocusfund.com
Media:
Barbara Lindheim
BLL Partners for Cancer Focus Fund
blindheim@bllbiopartners.com
+1 917 355-9234
