Eli Lilly is continuing to ride the radiopharma wave, paying Aktis Oncology $60 million upfront to work on therapeutic and diagnostic products against multiple targets.
Lilly established itself as a player in the nascent radiopharma space by acquiring Point Biopharma for $1.4 billion late last year. The takeover included a manufacturing plant, R&D campus and pipeline led by a PSMA-targeted radioligand therapy, giving Lilly a launchpad for a broader push to make the modality a key part of its oncology pipeline.
On Tuesday, Lilly added more elements to its burgeoning radiopharma portfolio. Aktis took the other side of the deal, agreeing to use its platform to generate anticancer candidates against targets chosen by Lilly. The agreement is worth $60 million upfront, plus up to $1.1 billion in milestones. Lilly is also investing in Aktis, joining Bristol Myers Squibb, Merck & Co. and Novartis among the biotech’s backers.
Aktis has attracted the interest on the strength of a platform for delivering alpha emitters to cancer cells using miniproteins, an approach that could crush tumors without causing intolerable harm to healthy tissues. While Novartis has established the modern radiopharma field with beta-emitting drugs, namely Pluvicto and Luthatera, Aktis sees more potent alpha emitters as the future of the sector.
The biotech is combining its radioactive isotopes with miniproteins. Radioligands need a cell-targeting compound to get payloads to tumor cells without scorching a trail of destruction through healthy tissue. Prioritizing selectivity and tumor penetration, Aktis has identified miniproteins as the molecules to guide its payloads to their targets.
Aktis is putting its belief in miniproteins and alpha emitters to the test using an in-house pipeline led by a clinical-phase candidate that targets nectin-4. The biotech is retaining full rights to the nectin-4 prospect and the rest of its proprietary pipeline and will work with Lilly to advance new candidates.