FogPharma and ARTBIO Announce Collaboration to Co-Develop Multiple Helicon™-Enabled Alpha-Particle Radioligand Therapies for the Treatment of Cancer
Agreement will leverage both companies’ proprietary discovery & development platforms to create a new class of alpha radioligand therapeutics that will maximize efficacy and transform patient outcomes
ARTBIO to leverage AlphaDirect™ platform to enable development and distributed manufacturing of 212Pb alpha radioligand therapies
FogPharma to leverage its proprietary Helicon™ platform of ultratunable peptides to drive invention of the ideal peptide to carry 212Pb to tumors
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., May 14, 2024 ─ FogPharma®, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to delivering a new class of therapies that go beyond the limits of currently available medicines using its Helicon™ peptide platform, and ARTBIO, Inc. (“ARTBIO”), a clinical-stage radiopharmaceutical company developing a new class of 212Pb alpha radioligand therapies (ARTs), announced a collaboration to co-develop Helicon-enabled ARTs (HEARTs) to transform outcomes for patients with multiple types of cancer.
ARTBIO and FogPharma will co-develop novel HEARTs against multiple targets, leveraging FogPharma’s field-leading Helicon platform of tunable stabilized α-helical peptides and ARTBIO’s AlphaDirect™ platform for the development of ARTs using the best-in-class isotope, 212Pb. ARTs with 212Pb have the ideal clinical profile due to a short half-life that delivers maximal energy into tumors with high stability and the ability to image with SPECT/CT. The synergy of these two powerful platforms offers promising potential to create next-generation ARTs with properties ideal for precise delivery to tumors.
“Our AI-enabled Helicon platform provides an unprecedented level of chemical flexibility and diversity for modifying the crucial chemical and biological properties of peptides, a capability that we have leveraged to address previously undruggable protein:protein interactions inside the cell. We are thrilled to begin our collaboration with ARTBIO, wherein we extend the use of our Helicons to bind extracellular proteins and use our Helicons to finely tune distribution and elimination properties, paving the way for a new safe and effective category of targeted radioligand therapy,” stated Mathai Mammen, M.D., Ph.D., CEO of FogPharma. “Our aim is to revolutionize outcomes for cancer patients in critical need.”
“Alpha radioligand therapy, and 212Pb in particular, has shown tremendous promise as a new class of radiopharmaceuticals. This collaboration with FogPharma enables ARTBIO to advance next-generation therapeutics specifically designed to treat solid tumors,” said Emanuele Ostuni, Ph.D., CEO of ARTBIO. “FogPharma has a shared vision of radically changing the current treatment paradigms for cancers, and together we will fuse science, technology, and collective passion to improve patient outcomes.”
The partners will contribute equally to the collaboration across research, development and commercialization phases; additional financial terms are undisclosed.
About FogPharma®
FogPharma is a biopharmaceutical company pioneering the discovery and development of HeliconTM therapeutics, which are peptides capable of efficient cell entry and modulation of both protein-protein and protein-DNA interactions. Through Helicon therapeutics, FogPharma is poised to revolutionize the medical possibilities for patients by precisely drugging intracellular targets long understood to be significant drivers of disease but never before drugged due to the limitations of existing drug modalities to act within the cell. FOG-001, the company’s first-in-class TCF-blocking β-catenin inhibitor, is being evaluated in a Phase 1/2 study for patients with advanced solid tumors, including colorectal cancer. FogPharma is fully leveraging the unprecedented potential Helicons present by deploying proprietary, custom-built machine learning and computational methods as part of its discovery and development process. FogPharma has raised more than $500 million to date from leading life sciences investors. FogPharma is headquartered in Cambridge, Mass. For more information, please visit: www.fogpharma.com..
About ARTBIO
ARTBIO is a clinical-stage radiopharmaceutical company redefining cancer care by creating a new class of alpha radioligand therapies (ARTs). The unique ARTBIO approach selects the optimal alpha-precursor isotope (212Pb) and tumor-specific targets to create therapeutics with the potential for highest efficacy and safety. The company's AlphaDirect™ technology, a first-of-its-kind 212Pb isolation method, enables a distributed manufacturing approach for the reliable production and delivery of ARTs. ARTBIO is advancing multiple pipeline programs with lead program AB001 currently in first in human trials. ARTBIO is shaped by a long-standing scientific legacy with nearly a century of pioneering work in radiation therapy conducted at the University of Oslo and Norway’s Radium Hospital. For more information, visit www.artbio.com, and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.