Melbourne (Australia) | 08 May 2024
Telix today announces an agreement with Cardinal Health Nuclear & Precision Health Solutions (a subsidiary of Cardinal Health, Inc.) for the global clinical supply of actinium-225 (Ac-225), a therapeutic radioisotope that will be used in developing the Company’s targeted alpha therapy (TAT) pipeline.
Alpha therapies – the “next generation” of radiopharmaceuticals – use alpha-emitting radioisotopes, such as actinium, which have a higher energy output but a shorter penetration depth compared with beta-emitters (such as lutetium-177 and iodine-131), and may be better suited to treating small or disseminated tumours, or micro-metastatic disease. The development of TATs is a priority research and development focus area for Telix and is highly complementary to the Company’s existing late-stage therapeutic pipeline.
Telix’s extensive clinical-stage TAT pipeline includes TLX592, a prostate cancer therapy candidate based on the Company’s proprietary RADmAb® engineered antibody technology, and TLX300 a radiolabelled form of a naked antibody in-licensed from Eli Lilly & Company, which is under initial evaluation in soft tissue sarcoma (STS).1 In addition, the recently completed OPALESCENCE2 and PERTINENCE3 investigator-initiated trials are exploring carbonic anhydrase IX (CAIX) expression in triple-negative breast cancer, and non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer, respectively, using TLX250-CDx PET4 as targeting and dosimetry proof-of-concept for future actinium-225 based CAIX-targeting therapies.
Cardinal Health, a global manufacturer and distributor of medical and laboratory products – including radiopharmaceuticals – has worked with TerraPower Isotopes (TerraPower) since 2018 to increase availability of Ac-225. TerraPower’s exclusive agreement with the United States Department of Energy for raw material along with its proven production technology enables a robust supply.
President of Cardinal Health Nuclear & Precision Health Solutions, Mike Pintek said, “We are pleased to build on our existing highly successful relationship with Telix, with this new supply agreement providing further evidence of Cardinal Health’s international leadership as a supplier of the highest quality radioisotopes and nuclear medicine products and services. At Cardinal Health, innovation is born from anticipation of what’s needed next, and we are excited to help accelerate the development of Telix’s alpha therapy pipeline, unlocking the value in this promising class of radiopharmaceuticals, which is generating high interest worldwide.”
Telix Chief Commercial Officer, Richard Valeix added, “Targeted alpha therapy is regarded as the next frontier in radiopharmaceuticals and is a priority focus area for Telix’s pipeline expansion. This supply agreement is a critical factor enabling us to move forward with this development program, with plans to explore multiple alpha therapy candidates across a variety of disease settings.”
With the exception of Illuccix® (68Ga PSMA-11), no Telix product has received a marketing authorisation in any jurisdiction.
- Telix ASX disclosure 17 April 2023. ↩︎
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID NCT04758780. Positive topline results presented at SABCS in December 2023, Telix media release 7 December 2023. ↩︎
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID NCT04897763. ↩︎
- Positron emission tomography. ↩︎