Clinical-stage radiotherapeutics company Radiopharm Theranostics (ASX:RAD) has partnered with cancer and theranostics research company GenesisCare to develop novel radiopharmaceuticals in Australia.

The new 2-year strategic collaboration will develop radiopharmaceuticals for some complex, and hard-to-treat cancers. Through this partnership , both companies will conduct phase one clinical trials in Australia to study the safety and tolerability of novel radiopharmaceuticals, focusing on areas of ‘high’ unmet need in oncology.

As part of the collaboration, GenesisCare’s Contract Research Organisation (CRO) and Imaging Research Organisation (IRO), have been engaged to implement 3 phase one clinical trials in Australia, involving Radiopharm’s platform of radiopharmaceutical nanobodies.

“This R&D collaboration brings together 2 Australian-founded healthcare companies who share an interest in investigating and developing new therapies in Australia”

The 3 phase one clinical trials to be conducted under the research partnership include a trial involving Radiopharm’s proprietary nanobody from its Nano-mAbs platform targeting the PLD1 expression in non-small cell lung cancer; a trail involving the company’s PTPu targeting peptide in brain tumours; and a trial involving its PSA targeting antibody which targets free human prostate kallikrein (PSA) in prostate cancer cells.

Commenting on the partnership, Radiopharm Theranostics Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director Riccardo Canevari said: “Radiopharmaceuticals are quickly becoming a highly promising therapeutic frontier in oncology, offering new hope to patients who may have exhausted all other treatment options.

We are delighted to be extending and strengthening our partnership with GenesisCare, a world-leader in cancer care, to advance the future of radiopharmaceuticals and improve access to innovative therapies for patients all over the world.”

Also commenting, GenesisCare Chief Science Officer, Research and Insights Dr Danielle Meyrick says the company is delighted to be partnering with Radiopharm on its exciting pipeline of research in Australia.

“This R&D (Research and Development) collaboration brings together 2 Australian-founded healthcare companies who share an interest in investigating and developing new therapies in Australia.”

Radiopharm reports radiopharmaceuticals are designed to deliver small doses of radiation to specifically targeted cells for either therapeutic or diagnostic purposes. Effective cancer radiopharmaceuticals require tumour-specific targets not found in healthy tissue.

To date, the majority of clinical developments in radiopharmaceuticals have targeted metastatic prostate cancer and neuroendocrine tumours.

Radiopharm Theranostics is a clinical-stage radiotherapeutics company developing a platform of ‘innovative’ radiopharmaceutical products for diagnostic and therapeutic applications in ‘high’ areas of unmet medical need.

The company has a pipeline of 6 ‘distinct’ and ‘highly differentiated’ platform technologies spanning peptides, small molecules, and monoclonal antibodies for use in cancer, in pre-clinical and clinical stages of development from some of the world’s leading universities and institutes.

GenesisCare is Australia’s ‘largest’ provider of cancer and cardiac care services, that also has cancer treatment centres in the US, the UK, and Spain.