Theragnostics Announces Research Collaboration with Essen University Hospital to Study THG-008 for Oncology PET Imaging

Theragnostics, a private biotech company based in UK and US, recently announced a research collaboration with Essen University Hospital to examine Theragnostics' investigational agent THG-008 for PET imaging in a range of cancers.

The research is due to start in February 2021 and will be led by Dr. Michael Nader, head of radiochemistry and part of the Clinic for Nuclear Medicine at Universitätsklinikum Essen (University Hospital Essen), in Germany.

THG-008 is a novel fluorine-18 radiolabelled PARP inhibitor (¹⁸F-PARPi) which has a number of applications relevant to imaging cancer. A Phase 1 clinical study for THG-008 in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) completed recruitment in May 2019. Data published in a peer-reviewed publication confirmed imaging of head and neck cancer with ¹⁸F-PARPi was feasible and had an acceptable safety profile. The study also confirmed that ¹⁸F-PARPi can detect primary and metastatic HNSCC lesions, and that retention in cancer deposits was longer than in healthy tissues.

“Radiolabelled PARP inhibitors have the potential to improve patient survival in a number of cancers. There are several approved conventional pharmaceutical PARP inhibitors on the market with new indications being approved in recent months further expanding an existing multibillion dollar market,” said Greg Mullen, Chief Executive Officer of Theragnostics.

Theragnostics, which is developing molecular radiotherapy for imaging and treating a broad range of cancers, will collaborate with University Hospital Essen’s Professor Dr. Ken Herrmann, who has extensive experience in Nuclear Medicine and is an important researcher in the field.

“Universitätsklinikum Essen specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer using nuclear medicine techniques, which puts us in a privileged position to assess and evaluate the potential of THG-008 as a PET imaging agent. With this study, we hope to advance our understanding of the applicability of PARP inhibitor imaging oncology,” said Dr. Herrmann.