On October 23, 2024 Starget Pharma (Starget), a clinical stage biotechnology company developing precision peptide radioligand therapies, and Cancer Focus Fund, LP, a unique investment fund established in collaboration with The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (MD Anderson) to provide funding and clinical expertise to advance promising clinical therapies, reported a $5.1 million investment from Cancer Focus Fund to support a Phase 1b clinical trial of Starget’s lead theranostic, DOTA-PTR-58 (Press release, Starget Pharma, OCT 23, 2024, View Source [SID1234647342]). The trial will target tumors overexpressing somatostatin receptor type 3 (SSTR-3), including sarcomas, neuroendocrine tumors (NET), melanoma, and hepatocellular carcinomas. The trial will be conducted at MD Anderson and other centers and will begin enrolling patients in early 2025.
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Targeted theranostic radiotherapy combines diagnostic imaging with targeted treatment to provide personalized care for advanced metastatic cancers. Using patient data, theranostics precisely targets tumor cells, delivering localized radiotherapy that can either generate diagnostic images or directly destroy cancer cells. This approach offers greater precision and a wider therapeutic window than conventional radiation therapy.
"This investment validates the potential of our smart targeted radioligands to provide safer and more effective therapies for challenging cancers," said Sigal Kalmanson Cusnir, CEO of Starget Pharma. "Our Backbone Dynamics technology enables us to transform peptides into next-generation radiopharmaceuticals with enhanced properties. We look forward to collaborating with MD Anderson on this Phase 1b trial of DOTA-PTR-58, a first-in-class theranostic that has demonstrated both safety and tumor uptake in early studies. We believe our proprietary technology offers significant advantages over existing radioligand therapies, particularly for advanced cancer patients with limited options."
Starget’s Backbone Dynamics technology is an innovative peptide radioligand drug design platform that uses proprietary backbone cyclization to create molecules with enhanced stability, selectivity, and pharmacokinetics. The platform accelerates the design of new radioligand candidates, facilitating the rapid development of cancer therapies with enhanced efficacy and safety.
"Starget Pharma’s novel STR technology exemplifies the potential cancer breakthroughs we seek to support," said Ross Barrett, a founder and Managing Partner of Cancer Focus Fund. "Recent successes with peptide-based radioligands have begun to realize the promise of this approach, and Starget’s proprietary Backbone Dynamics technology further advances these gains by enhancing peptide diversity and optimizing candidate selection for a variety of difficult-to-treat cancers."
Jordi Rodón, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Investigational Cancer Therapeutics at MD Anderson, will serve as Principal Investigator of the Phase 1b trial.
About DOTA-PTR-58 and SSTR-3
DOTA-PTR-58 is a first-in-class superagonist radioligand with sub-nanomolar affinity targeting selective somatostatin receptor type 3 (SSTR-3), a receptor highly expressed across multiple tumor types including sarcoma, melanoma, NET and hepatocellular carcinomas. Unlike the more commonly used target SSTR-2, SSTR-3 shows lower expression in normal tissues, offering a broader therapeutic window. DOTA-PTR-58 comprises a theranostic pair: Imaging with a Ga-68 isotope and therapy with a Lu-177 isotope. A follow-on program will include Imaging with a Ga-68 isotope and therapy with an Ac-225 isotope. The molecule demonstrates high in vivo tumor uptake and internalization, selectivity and significant antitumor activity.