OXFORD, England & MONROE TOWNSHIP, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Blue Earth Therapeutics, a Bracco company and emerging leader in the development of innovative next generation therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals, today announced the signing of a clinical research collaboration with University College London (UCL). The collaboration is centered on a Phase 1/2 trial designed to evaluate the safety, tolerability, radiation dosimetry and anti-tumour activity of the company’s 225Ac-rhPSMA-10.1 in men with metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer who have previously responded to lutetium 177 (177Lu)-PSMA therapy. The work will be conducted at the UCL Cancer Institute in London, UK, by the Treatment Resistance Group under the leadership of Professor Gerhardt Attard, MD PhD FRCP. Professor Attard is the John Black Charitable Foundation Endowed Chair in Urological Cancer Research, and is a highly regarded prostate cancer clinical trialist.
225Ac-rhPSMA-10.1 is the second compound in Blue Earth Therapeutics’ investigational pipeline. It is based on innovative radiohybrid PSMA technology, which allows for development of therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals that may be labelled with either beta- or alpha-emitting isotopes. The pharmacokinetic profile of rhPSMA-10.1 was carefully optimised during development to maximise the retention of radioactivity in tumour deposits whilst sparing normal tissue as far as possible. Pairing these properties with longer lived isotopes like 225Ac may allow the delivery of very high radiation doses to the cancer cells. Blue Earth Therapeutics has an ongoing clinical trial underway that uses the beta-emitting radioisotope lutetium 177 (177Lu) to radiolabel rhPSMA-10.1, and is building on that work by now radiolabelling the compound with the alpha-emitting radioisotope 225Ac.
“Our goal at Blue Earth Therapeutics is to deliver precise, targeted therapy specific to a patient’s condition,” said David E. Gauden, D.Phil., Chief Executive Officer of Blue Earth Therapeutics. “This collaboration aims to rapidly translate alpha-labelled rhPSMA-10.1 from the laboratory to the clinic, with the hope to help patients who have advanced prostate cancer. We are delighted to collaborate with an illustrious academic institution such as UCL which is regularly ranked in the top 10 academic institutions globally, and look forward to working with Professor Attard and his group on this important UK clinical research initiative.”
“We are pleased to enter into this broad research collaboration with UK-based Blue Earth Therapeutics, as both of our institutions share a vision to improve cancer treatment for patients,” said Professor Attard, MD PhD FRCP. “Despite the development of several new therapeutic options for castration resistant prostate cancer in the last 20 years, treatment resistance is common and leads to thousands of premature deaths annually in the UK. Precision-delivered radiation therapy using radioligands provides an opportunity for selectively targeting resistant prostate cancer. We believe that delivery of radiation by means of alpha particles is a very promising area of research and we look forward to starting clinical testing of rhPSMA-10.1 for patients with aggressive, treatment-resistant prostate cancer.”
About Radiohybrid Prostate-Specific Membrane Antigen (rhPSMA)
Radiohybrid Prostate-Specific Membrane Antigen (rhPSMA) compounds consist of a radiohybrid (“rh”) Prostate-Specific Membrane Antigen-targeted receptor ligand, which is internalised by prostate cancer cells, which can be radiolabelled with imaging isotopes for PET imaging, or with therapeutic isotopes for therapeutic use – providing the potential for creating a true theranostic technology. Radiohybrid technology and rhPSMA originated from the Technical University of Munich, Germany. Blue Earth Diagnostics acquired exclusive, worldwide rights to rhPSMA diagnostic imaging technology from Scintomics GmbH in 2018, and therapeutic rights in 2020, and sublicensed the therapeutic application to its sister company Blue Earth Therapeutics. Blue Earth Therapeutics and Blue Earth Diagnostics work closely on the development of 177Lu‐rhPSMA‐10.1 and 225Ac-rhPSMA-10.1. rhPSMA compounds for therapeutic use are investigational agents and have not received regulatory approval.
About Blue Earth Therapeutics
Blue Earth Therapeutics, one of the Bracco family of companies, is a clinical stage company dedicated to advancing next generation targeted radiotherapeutics to treat patients who have cancer. With proven management expertise across the spectrum of radiopharmaceutical and oncology drug development, as well as biotechnology start-up experience, the Company aims to innovate and improve upon current technologies and rapidly advance new targeted therapies for serious diseases. Blue Earth Therapeutics has an emerging pipeline, initially focused on prostate cancer, and with plans to expand into additional disease areas in oncology. Blue Earth Therapeutics is an indirect subsidiary of Bracco Imaging S.p.A, and based in Oxford, UK. For more information, please visit: https://www.blueearththerapeutics.com.
About Bracco Imaging
Bracco Imaging S.p.A., part of the Bracco Group, is a world-leading diagnostic imaging provider. Headquartered in Milan, Italy, Bracco Imaging develops, manufactures and markets diagnostic imaging agents and solutions. It offers a product and solution portfolio for all key diagnostic imaging modalities: X-ray imaging (including Computed Tomography-CT, Interventional Radiology, and Cardiac Catheterization), Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), Contrast Enhanced Ultrasound (CEUS), and Nuclear Medicine through radioactive tracers and novel PET imaging agents to inform clinical management and guide care for cancer patients in areas of unmet medical need. Our continually evolving portfolio is completed by a range of medical devices, advanced administration systems and dose-management software. In 2019 Bracco Imaging enriched its product portfolio by expanding the range of oncology nuclear imaging solutions in the urology segment and other specialties with the acquisition of Blue Earth Diagnostics. In 2021, Bracco Imaging established Blue Earth Therapeutics as a separate, cutting-edge biotechnology vehicle to develop radiopharmaceutical therapies. Visit: www.braccoimaging.com.
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