The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and Radiopharm Theranostics Ltd. have launched Radiopharm Ventures LLC, a joint venture (JV) that will develop radiopharmaceutical therapies for cancer. Radiopharm Theranostics owns 51% of shares in the new entity, while MD Anderson owns 49%.
Pleco Therapeutics BV has raised €17.3 million (US$17.1 million) in equity, loan and grant financing to move its lead program into a phase I trial next year. The company, based in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, is bringing a fresh perspective to bear on a longstanding therapeutic concept – that cancer can be tackled by metal chelation. Quite a number of agents have entered the clinic over the years, but none as yet has delivered any useful outcome.
Dead cancer cells in the body are thought to help trigger an active immune response in oncology patients, particularly in combination with immunotherapy drugs. Some technologies, such as radiation and laser therapy, that kill cancer cells are being investigated for use in combination with immunotherapies. Well-regarded oncology specialist The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center has partnered with Rakuten Medical Inc. to further advance one such technology, the latter’s photoimmunotherapy platform Illuminox.
