- ANSTO to supply Lutetium-177 for GlyTherix’s Phase Ib therapeutic trial in patients with prostate, pancreatic and bladder cancers
- Phase Ib basket clinical trial expected to start in late 2023
Sydney, Australia – February 21, 2023 – GlyTherix Ltd, an Australian immuno-oncology company specialising in developing antibody radiopharmaceuticals for solid tumors, has recently executed an agreement with the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) in Sydney to supply the Company with isotope non-carrier-added Lutetium-177 (177Lu) for its planned Phase 1b trials in Australia.
The isotope will be used in combination with GlyTherix’s proprietary antibody, Miltuximab®, targeting tumours expressing Glypican-1 in a Phase Ib imaging and therapeutic dose escalation trial.
Glypican-1 is expressed in a number of aggressive and invasive cancers including prostate, pancreatic, bladder, lung, glioblastoma and ovarian cancer. An antibody labelled with 89-Zirconium will be used as an imaging agent to select patients showing tumour targeting, followed by a therapeutic dose of 177Lu-Miltuximab® being offered to qualifying patients.
The basket trial is planned to start in late 2023 in collaboration with ANSTO.
Chief Executive Officer of GlyTherix Ltd, Dr Brad Walsh said partnering with ANSTO will place Glytherix on the right path to initiating medical trials in Australia.
“Lutetium has shown good anti-cancer efficacy with other molecular targeted therapies and we are confident this will be the case with Miltuximab®,” Dr Walsh said.
“The growing demand for high-quality lutetium has driven us to strengthen our current relationship with ANSTO as one of the premier suppliers of this isotope.”
Chief Executive Officer of ANSTO, Shaun Jenkinson welcomed the agreement as an opportunity to expand ANSTO’s commitment to providing outcomes for human health.
“One of ANSTO’s core missions is to advance the use of radiopharmaceuticals to benefit the health of Australians and help save lives,” Mr Jenkinson said.
“Globally, there is a growing clinical interest in new therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals, and through the work of ANSTO, Australia is already a world leader in the advanced manufacturing of diagnostic and therapeutic nuclear medicines to help treat current and emerging diseases.”
Media contacts:
GlyTherix Ltd: Dr Brad Walsh, brad.walsh@glytherix.com, 0413 231 296
ANSTO: Melissa Richardson, Melissa.Richardson@ansto.gov.au, 0499 830 165
About GlyTherix
GlyTherix Ltd is an Australian immuno-oncology company specializing in developing antibody radiopharmaceuticals for solid tumours. Miltuximab® specifically targets GPC-1, a protein found in solid tumours such as prostate, bladder, pancreatic, glioblastoma, oesophageal and ovarian cancers, and is not present in healthy tissue. The company has a strong proprietary and Intellectual Property position covering both Miltuximab® and the antigen GPC-1. This provides robust and long-term protection for the commercialization of important new treatments to people with little hope.
GlyTherix has completed a ‘First-in-Human’ trial of 12 patients using Miltuximab® with no drug-related adverse. Miltuximab® will be used in a Phase Ib trial as an antibody theranostic. GlyTherix is interested in partnerships or collaborations with larger biotech and pharmaceutical partners.
About ANSTO
The Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) is the home of Australia’s most significant landmark and national infrastructure for research. Thousands of scientists from industry and academia benefit from gaining access to state-of-the-art instruments every year. ANSTO operates much of Australia’s landmark infrastructure including one of the world’s most modern nuclear research reactors, OPAL; a comprehensive suite of neutron beam instruments at the Australian Centre for Neutron Scattering; the Australian Synchrotron; and the Centre for Accelerator Science.
ANSTO’s Lucas Heights Precinct in Sydney is home to three key facilities that enable Australia’s advanced manufacturing and distribution of nuclear medicines.
80 per cent of nuclear medicine isotopes used in Australia come from ANSTO. We partner with nuclear medicine professionals to enable 700,000[1] patient procedures each year[2].
[1] based on published Medicare statistics combined with non-MBS data sourced from the nuclear medicine community: http://medicarestatistics.humanservices.gov.au/statistics/mbs_group.jsp.
[2] These include diagnostic imaging scans (SPECT and PET) to aid in patient management and a growing range of therapies.