Theragnostics Enters Licensing Agreement with AstraZeneca to Develop Radiolabeled PARP Inhibitor Therapies

Today, Theragnostics, a company dedicated to developing medical imaging tools and radiopharmaceutical therapies for the treatment of various cancers, announced that it has reached a licensing agreement with AstraZeneca on intellectual property. Under the agreement, Theragnostics may develop radionuclide-labeled PARP inhibitors in the diagnostic field and has obtained an option to secure rights to develop radionuclide-labeled PARP inhibitors in the therapeutic field.

PARP Inhibitors Are Important Anticancer Therapies; They Enhance the Efficacy of Radiotherapy and Chemotherapy by Inhibiting PARP Activity, Reducing DNA Repair Capacity in Tumor Cells, and Increasing Their Sensitivity to DNA-Damaging Agents. Currently, Four PARP Inhibitors Have Received FDA Approval.

Theragnostics’ technology platform will develop PARP inhibitor-based molecular radiotherapies for cancer imaging and treatment. This technology modifies PARP inhibitor drug molecules with radioactive atoms to generate radiolabeled PARP inhibitors (rPARPi). The approach can be used to image PARP in cancer patients to aid diagnosis, or to deliver therapeutic radioisotopes to tumor cells. This strategy not only enhances the potential to target and kill tumor cells, but also avoids damage to healthy cells and associated side effects.

▲Mr. Greg Mullen, CEO of Theragnostics (Image source: Theragnostics official website)

“Theragnostics is dedicated to developing novel diagnostic imaging agents and targeted radionuclide therapies, thereby improving cancer treatment,” said Greg Mullen, CEO of Theragnostics. “This agreement with AstraZeneca enriches our intellectual property portfolio, enabling us to accelerate the development of our rPARPi therapy and related theranostic product pipeline, potentially providing new and effective treatment options for many cancer patients.”

References:

[1] THERAGNOSTICS SIGNS AGREEMENT WITH ASTRAZENECA, Retrieved September 05, 2019, from https://theragnostics.com/theragnostics-signs-agreement-with-astrazeneca/

[2] Lord CJ， Ashworth A.PARP inhibitors： Synthetic lethality in the clinic.Science. Epub 2017 Mar 16.

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