Telix Pharmaceuticals and Mauna Kea Technologies Launch Urologic Oncology Alliance
Melbourne (Australia) – 16th December 2020. [Article updated with new video 16th February 2021] Telix Pharmaceuticals announces collaboration with Mauna Kea Technologies to develop advanced image-guided surgical technologies in the field of urologic oncology.
Telix is pleased to announce it has entered an exclusive scientific and clinical research collaboration with Paris-based Mauna Kea Technologies, a leading medical device company pioneering the development of real-time intra-operative endomicroscopic visualisation of cancer tissue, to develop advanced image-guided surgical technologies in the field of urologic oncology.
The focus of the collaboration, which has been named the “Imaging and Robotics in Surgery” (‘IRiS’) Alliance, is to combine the use of Telix’s dual-modality positron emission tomography (‘PET’) tracers that deliver concurrent PET and fluorescent (optical) imaging, with Mauna Kea’s Cellvizio® confocal laser endomicroscopy (CLE) in vivo cellular imaging platform. The clinical objective is to enable the urologic surgeon to access real-time visualisation of cancer tissues in the operating theatre in a manner that can be directly correlated to pre-operative PET imaging. The IRiS Alliance aims to develop advanced capabilities for pre-operative planning, intra-operative guidance, surgical margin assessment and other surgical parameters, with initial applications in prostate and renal (kidney) cancer.
Telix CEO, Dr. Christian Behrenbruch said, “The cutting-edge techniques our respective companies have developed in molecular targeting and real-time in vivo cellular imaging have a natural synergy and we are delighted to have formalised this ground-breaking partnership. Through the IRiS Alliance, Telix and Mauna Kea together aim to deliver significant improvements in surgical techniques and clinical outcomes in patients with urologic malignancies, with the ultimate objective of improving the lives of the patients we serve.”
Mauna Kea Technologies CEO, Robert L. Gershon stated, “We are excited to announce this exclusive scientific and clinical research collaboration with Telix in the field of urologic oncology. The IRiS Alliance endeavours to combine the strengths of Telix’s molecular targeting with Cellvizio’s real-time in vivo cellular imaging to bring dual-modality molecular imaging to the operating theatre for the first time. The IRiS Alliance aims to significantly transform how the urologic surgeon will evaluate, target, excise, and confirm surgical margins at the cellular level. Our collaboration will further empower surgeons to fight cancers and save lives.”
To learn more about the collaboration please click here.