Date: 2012-11-21
Type of information: R&D agreement
Compound: alpha-pharmaceuticals comprising thorium-227 conjugated to tumor-targeting Nanobodies®
Company: Ablynx (Belgium) Algeta (Norway)
Therapeutic area: Cancer - Oncology
Type agreement: R&D
Action mechanism:
Disease:
Details: Algeta and Ablynx have announced a research collaboration to evaluate a novel Targeted Thorium Conjugate (TTC) based on combining Algeta\'s proprietary thorium-227 alpha-pharmaceutical payload with Nanobodies® generated using Ablynx\'s proprietary technology platform. Under the terms of the collaboration, Ablynx will provide access to novel Nanobodies® against a specific, undisclosed target and Algeta will provide access to chelation and conjugation technologies, as well as to its alpha-emitter thorium-227. Both companies will contribute resources towards the collaboration, which is expected to last for up to a year initially with the option for extension thereafter. No further terms have been disclosed.
Algeta has already developed several partnerships with pharma and biotech companies (Affibody, Bayer, Genzyme, Sanofi...). The company is evaluating the potential utility of alpha-particle emitting elements in the treatment of cancer. Previous studies have indicated that such elements may have value in treating cancers by causing double-strand DNA breaks that trigger cell death, and have also shown that the effects of alpha-emission are highly localized as a result of the very short range of the alpha particle (2-10 cell diameters). Thorium-227 is one alpha-particle emitting element (radionuclide) that has been selected by Algeta for further investigation. By linking thorium-227 to cancer-targeting molecules such as monoclonal antibodies, Algeta believes it may be possible to develop a pipeline of targeted alpha-pharmaceuticals, termed Targeted Thorium Conjugates, or TTCs.
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