Prostate cancer therapy is becoming more and more targeted thanks to radiopharmaceuticals. The first and only drug of this type approved so far, based on radium-223 dichloride, will soon be joined by others. The same pharmaceutical company that developed and produced the first targeted therapy, Bayer, has in fact acquired two companies obtaining the exclusive rights to a differentiated therapy with actinium-225-based alpha radionuclides and a small molecule targeted to the specific membrane antigen prostate (PSMA). With the addition of this innovative small molecule labeled with actinium-225 to the company’s platform of experimental thorium conjugates currently under development in multiple cancers, the company advances differentiated treatment options that can make a real difference for cancer patients. .
The companies acquired by Bayer, Noria and PSMA Therapeutics, hold the worldwide exclusive rights to the technology licensed from Weill Cornell Medicine and Johns Hopkins University. “Weill Cornell Medicine is committed to bringing our faculty innovations to market so that patients can benefit from the latest therapies,” said Lisa Placanica, senior managing director of the Center for Technology Licensing at Weill Cornell Medicine. “Bayer’s acquisition of Noria and PSMA Therapeutics, which developed Dr. Babich’s radiopharmaceutical and diagnostic technology, is an important milestone in drug development and we look forward to the progress this collaboration will make to expand the prostate cancer therapies “.
The terapie target alfa (TAT)
Target alpha therapies (TATs) are an emerging class of radionuclide therapies for several cancers. They deliver alpha radiation directly to cancer cells within the body through their bone tropism property (radium-223), or by combining alpha-emitting radionuclides, such as actinium-225 or thorium-227, with specific target drugs. Compared to beta radiation, alpha radiation has greater power and a shorter penetration radius. It has been shown to cause hard-to-repair damage to cancer cells, causing DNA double-strand breaks.
Radio-223 dichloride is the first and only approved alpha target therapy. It is indicated for patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer with symptomatic bone metastases and no known visceral disease; more than 76,000 patients have been treated since its launch. Radio-223 dichloride is currently undergoing further evaluation in a large clinical development program in prostate cancer and other cancers.
With its platform of experimental thorium conjugates (TTCs), Bayer is developing a range of drugs in various cancers. PSMA-TTC, which combines an antibody directed against prostate specific membrane antigen (PSMA) with thorium-227, is Bayer’s main project. Clinical evaluation is currently in Phase I in patients with castration-resistant metastatic prostate cancer. PSMA is strongly expressed on the surface of prostate cancer cells and has been shown to be a validated target for precision anticancer drugs. With this acquisition, Bayer expands its existing portfolio of alpha target therapy development by adding an actinium-labeled PSMA alpha target therapy. The development in the different stages of prostate cancer is expected.
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