Radioisotopes manufacturer SHINE Medical Technologies creates pharma unit

US radioisotopes manufacturer SHINE Medical Technologies has formed a new business division called SHINE Therapeutics in a move to boost its ability to focus on addressing critical future needs in the therapeutic isotope market.

SHINE Therapeutics will focus initially on developing and commercializing lutetium‑177 or Lu‑177, which is a therapeutic isotope that is combined with a disease-specific targeting molecule for the treatment of cancer. According to SHINE Medical Technologies, the targeting molecules supply Lu‑177 atoms to cancer sites across the body, where they directly expose cancer cells.

While the first Lu‑177-based targeted radiotherapy, which was for neuroendocrine tumors, was launched last year, several high-potential targeted molecules for the treatment of a variety of other cancers with Lu-177 are under investigation as of now, said SHINE Medical Technologies.

Radioisotopes manufacturer SHINE Medical Technologies creates pharma unit. Image courtesy of Stuart Miles/Freedigitalphotos.net.

The US radioisotopes manufacturer said that it is also assessing the future development of other medical isotopes with therapeutic properties.

Katrina Pitas, who was recently the company’s vice president of business development, will take over as vice president and general manager of SHINE Therapeutics.

Katrina Pitas said: “Targeted radiotherapy has the potential to fundamentally change the way cancer patients are treated. But a robust, reliable supply of therapeutic isotopes will be crucial as both the discipline and associated market continue to grow.

“Our Lu‑177 development program is well underway, and we look forward to bringing high-purity Lu‑177 to market.”

In May 2019, SHINE Medical Technologies signed an agreement with the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences (IOCB Prague) that gives it a worldwide, exclusive license to a separation technology that it will be used to separate lutetium from enriched ytterbium targets. The technology is expected to help the US radioisotopes manufacturer to produce the non-carrier-added, high-specific-activity Lu‑177.

Greg Piefer – founder and CEO of SHINE Medical Technologies said: “We are excited to bring our core competencies and technology to serve the rapidly emerging therapeutic market.

“This market is particularly exciting, as it offers very promising therapies for patients who before now had difficult or impossible to treat late stage cancers. The focus of our new division is to ensure cancer patients have a reliable supply chain of isotopes as new drugs are approved.”

Recently, SHINE Medical Technologies raised $50 million from funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management to support its new medical isotope production facility and its commercialization efforts for molybdenum-99 (Mo-99), lutetium-177, and other diagnostic and therapeutic isotopes.