① Eli Lilly and Aktis Oncology reached a multi-target discovery cooperation agreement to develop anti-tumor radiopharmaceuticals; ② Nuclear drugs designed by Aktis Oncology can directly transport alpha particles close to cancer cells; ③ CITIC Securities pointed out that the usage rate of nuclear drugs in China is low, and there is broad scope for market expansion.
“Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily”, May 22 — With a huge investment of 8.4 billion dollars, pharmaceutical leader Eli Lilai has once again ignited the “flames of war” in the field of nuclear drugs.
According to reports, Lilly recently reached a multi-target discovery cooperation agreement with biotechnology company Aktis Oncology. Specifically, the former will pay the latter an advance payment of 60 million US dollars and a subsequent milestone amount of up to 1.1 billion US dollars (about 8.4 billion yuan) to produce anti-tumor radiopharmaceuticals using Aktis' novel microprotein technology platform.
What is the origin of Aktis Oncology? According to public information, the company is a biotechnology company that discovers and develops novel alpha-targeted radiopharmaceuticals to treat a wide range of solid tumors. It was founded and incubated by MPM Capital, and has completed the A+ round of financing so far.
From a technical point of view, radiotherapy has always been divided into alpha particle therapy and beta particle therapy. The former is more effective, but the problem is that it works at a shorter distance within the tissue. If radiation intensity is increased to make up for the distance disadvantage, it can cause side effects of killing normal cells. The alpha-targeted radiopharmaceuticals designed by Aktis Oncology can directly transport alpha particles to the vicinity of cancer cells, thus solving the problems described above.
In response to this collaboration, Aktis Oncology President Matthew Roden (Matthew Roden) said, “We are excited to work with Eli Lilly and will continue to work to increase the number of patients who can benefit from targeted radiopharmaceuticals in the future.” The good technical background and development vision also became an opportunity for Eli Lilly to cooperate with Aktis Oncology.
▌Overseas giants scramble to enter the domestic market and the domestic market is still open
This is not Eli Lilly's first attempt at nuclear drugs.
In October of last year, Eli Lilly acquired POINT Biopharm at a premium of $1.4 billion and acquired the latter's main asset, PNT2002. The drug is a radiotherapy targeting prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) and is currently undergoing phase III clinical trials for the treatment of metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. At the time, Eli Lilly's oncology division president Jake Van Naarden (Jake Van Naarden) declared, “This is the beginning of our investment in developing radiopharmaceuticals to treat difficult cancers.”
In fact, while Eli Lilly is siege to the field of nuclear drugs, quite a few foreign giants have joined the battlefield one after another:
In December 2023, Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) announced the acquisition of nuclear drug biotechnology company RayzeBio at a cash price of 62.5 US dollars per share, with a total share capital value of about 4.1 billion US dollars (about 29.2 billion yuan), to acquire innovative targeted nuclear drugs including RYZ101 and RYZ801.
In March 2024, AstraZeneca announced a $2.4 billion acquisition of nuclear drug company Fusion Pharma's radiopharmaceutical product line, including pipeline FPI-2265, to treat metastatic prostate cancer (mCRPC).
In May 2024, Novartis announced the acquisition of nuclear drug company Mariana Oncology. The former paid the latter an advance payment of 1 billion US dollars and a milestone amount of 750 million US dollars to obtain MC-339, a targeted nuclear drug for the treatment of small cell lung cancer, and expand its targeted nuclear drug development capabilities.
The field continues to heat up due to the comprehensive trade of nuclear drugs by major pharmaceutical companies. However, returning to a domestic perspective, the nuclear drug industry is booming. CITIC Securities research points out that compared to European and American countries, the usage rate of nuclear drugs in China is low, and there is plenty of room for market expansion. The promulgation of policies such as the “Medical Isotope Medium- and Long-Term Development Plan (2021-2035)” is expected to further regulate the development of nuclear medicine, and local enterprises also have natural advantages in localized production and distribution.
According to incomplete statistics from the “Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily”, A-share Chinese nuclear drug-related companies include:
