Orano Med and Orbit Discovery collaborate on radioligand therapies for cancer

Both companies will work to advance the development of novel radiopharmaceuticals

Orano Med and Orbit Discovery will collaborate to discover specific peptide receptor radionuclide therapies against cancer cells and advance the development of novel radiopharmaceuticals.

Radioligand therapies combine biological molecule abilities, including the use of peptides to target cancer cells, with the short-range, cell-destroying capabilities of radioisotopes, resulting in an increased cytotoxic potential towards cancer cells and limiting damage to surrounding healthy cells. The therapy offers new perspectives when treating difficult-to-treat cancers.

Under the terms of the agreement, Orbit, a service to develop and apply innovative drug discovery platforms, will deploy its bead-based peptide display engine to discover peptide leads specific to targets related to specific tumours.

Orano Med, a biotechnology company developing lead-212 targeted alpha therapies against cancer, will focus on the subsequent development of the peptides for clinical use after conjugation with lead-212, a promising alpha emitter isotype, for use in radioligand therapy.

Orbit’s peptide display engine will identify peptide candidates specific to tumour-associated targets by enabling the screening of large peptide collections through the combination of DNA-encoded libraries and bead-based presentation.

Uniquely equipped to address soluble targets and targets in situ, both on and in cells, the peptide display engine will provide faster discovery of relevant peptide leads based on affinity screens or functional screens.

Dr Neil Butt, chief executive officer at Orbit Discovery, said: “We’re delighted to continue expanding our existing portfolio of partners by collaborating with Orano Med who have a strong track record of discovering novel radiopharmaceuticals.

“We’re very proud of our proprietary screening platform at Orbit and acknowledge its role in empowering the next wave of peptide therapeutics.”

Julien Dodet, chief executive officer at Orano Med, commented: “In our strategy to develop and deliver Lead-212 Targeted Alpha Therapy for cancer patients, we’re delighted to work with Orbit Discovery and leverage its technology and expertise in peptide ligand discovery to build our pipeline of radiotherapies.”