Molecular Partners, Orano Med enter pact to develop Radio-DARPin therapeutics

Molecular Partners and Orano Med have announced a collaboration to develop novel Radio-DARPin therapeutics, or RDTs, that use Orano Med’s 212Pb radioisotope as a payload to selectively kill cancer cells. Both companies will leverage their unique capabilities to enable rapid clinical development and agree to share costs for preclinical and clinical development for multiple oncology targets, the first of which is DLL3. The partnership is based upon strong preclinical data supporting a highly differentiated profile for 212Pb-based RDTs. Besides strong binding to target proteins and selective delivery of radioactive payloads, these data have also indicated the ability of RDTs to minimize kidney damage often associated with protein-based radioligand therapies while maintaining high tumor uptake. This agreement represents the first co-development deal for Molecular Partners and Orano Med. Both companies are developing additional radioligand therapy candidates in partnership with other companies, with Molecular Partners having announced its first collaboration with Novartis in December 2021.