Grand Pharma Inks $590+ Million Deal for China Rights to ITM’s Precision Radiopharmaceuticals

China’s Grand Pharmaceuticals has inked a deal worth over €520 million ($588 million) with ITM Isotope Technologies Munich SE, a Germany-based private company that develops targeted radiopharmaceuticals for cancer. Under the agreement, Grand Pharma will obtain rights to develop, manufacture and commercialize two of ITM’s radionuclide candidates and a diagnostic molecule for neuroendocrine tumors in Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. 

Grand Pharma will pay ITM a “significant” upfront payment along with sales and developmental milestones worth up to €520 million ($588 million) in addition to tiered royalties. 

ITM’s latest deal with Grand Pharma builds on its efforts to expand in Asia. The company established a subsidiary in Shanghai in May and had extended a license agreement of several of its medical radioisotopes to CIRC, a Chinese nuclear technology product manufacturer, in 2019.

ITM’s Targeted Radionuclide Therapies

Targeted radionuclide therapy combines precision medicine and nuclear medicine to treat cancer. They are created by linking a radioisotope to a targeting molecule (e.g. peptide, antibody, small molecule) that seeks out biomarkers expressed on cancer cells. These molecules bring the radioactive payload in close proximity to the tumor tissue, where they decay and destroy the cancer cells while minimizing damage to local healthy tissue. 

ITM’s deal with Grand Pharma concerns ITM-11(no carrier added Lutetium Lu-177 edotreotide), its most clinically advanced candidate, ITM-41 (n.c.a. Lu-177 zoledronate) and TOCscan (Ga-68 edotreotide). 

ITM-11 consists of the medical radioisotope Lu-177 and the targeting molecule edotreotide, a synthetic form of somatostatin (a peptide hormone) that targets receptors highly expressed in tumor cells. ITM-11 is being investigated in two Phase 3 trials, Compete and Compose. 

ITM-41 contains the same radioisotope as ITM-11 while its targeting molecule is bisphosphonate derivative zoledronate, which binds to hydroxyapatite, a bone mineral. Accumulation of ITM-41 in bone may treat malignant bone disease. The molecule is being investigated for osteosarcoma and osteoblastic bone metastases.  

TOCscan consists of a Ga-68 radioisotope linked to edotreotide, and is mainly used for PET/CT imaging of neuroendocrine tumors. It is approved for use in Austria, France and Germany.

Author

Joy Lin

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