Telix Pharmaceuticals Limited Acquires TheraPharm GmbH
Melbourne (Australia) and Baar (Switzerland) – 30th November 2020. Telix announces it has entered into an agreement with Scintec Diagnostics GmbH to acquire TheraPharm GmbH, a Swiss-German biotechnology company developing innovative diagnostic and therapeutic solutions in the field of hematology.
Telix Pharmaceuticals is pleased to announce it has entered into an agreement with Scintec Diagnostics GmbH (‘Scintec’) to acquire TheraPharm GmbH(‘TheraPharm’), a Swiss-German biotechnology company developing innovative diagnostic and therapeutic solutions in the field of hematology. The acquisition of TheraPharm provides Telix with access to a portfolio of patents, technologies, production systems, clinical data and know-how in relation to the use of Molecularly Targeted Radiation (MTR) in hematology and immunology.
TheraPharm is developing antibody MTR technology against CD66, a cell surface target highly expressed by neutrophils (a type of granulocyte, a category of white blood cell) and tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes. As such, the technology has potentially very broad applications in the diagnosis and treatment of hematologic diseases (e.g. blood cancers), infection management and a variety of lymphoproliferative diseases. Of particular interest is the demonstrated use of the technology to safely and effectively condition patients prior to bone marrow stem cell transplant.
Summary of benefits to Telix from the acquisition of TheraPharm:
- A diagnostic imaging product (99mTc-besilesomab, marketed as Scintimun®) targeting white blood cells, for the purpose of locating areas of inflammation or infection in patients with suspected bone infection (osteomyelitis). Scintimun® is an approved product in Europe, currently sold and marketed by Curium Pharma in certain countries.
- Scintimun® has significant potential for expanded clinical indications for serious diseases that represent an unmet medical need.
- A therapeutic product (90Y-besilesomab, referred to as 90Y-anti-CD66-MTR) for the purpose of bone marrow conditioning (BMC) in patients prior to undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) for the treatment of blood cancers (hematologic malignancies) and various related conditions. 90Y-anti-CD66-MTR is supported by highly promising clinical safety and efficacy data from phase I and II clinical trials, and has been granted orphan drug designation (ODD) status in Europe for the broad indication of BMC for HSCT.
- 90Y-anti-CD66-MTR has significant potential for fast track development for the treatment of systemic amyloid light-chain amyloidosis (SALA), a rare disease with a poor prognosis and an estimated prevalence of 30,000 and 45,000 patients in US and EU, respectively. Telix estimates the addressable market value for the SALA indication at ~USD $600M for US/EU5.
- Beyond SALA, 90Y-anti-CD66-MTR has therapeutic potential across a very broad range of stem cell transplant settings including for multiple myeloma and leukemia, for which there is already compelling preliminary evidence of clinical utility.
- Manufacture of the therapeutic product, which contains the radioisotope yttrium-90 (90Y) is uniquely suited to Telix’s Seneffe (Belgium) manufacturing facility. 90Y has already been added to the Seneffe production license in anticipation of this transaction.
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