MELBOURNE, Australia , Oct. 22, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Telix Pharmaceuticals Limited (ASX: TLX, Telix, the Company) today announces the spin-off of Rhine Pharma [1] , which has the mission of expanding global access to innovative radiopharmaceuticals for cancer imaging and treatment using two generator-produced isotopes, technetium-99m ( 99m Tc) and rhenium-188 ( 188 Re). Rhine Pharma was formed following a collaboration between Telix and Heidelberg University Hospital (UKHD), which aimed to develop a PSMA [2] -targeting small molecule that could be labelled with either 99m Tc for SPECT [3] imaging, or 188 Re for radioligand therapy.
The collaboration successfully created a potential next-generation theranostic compound, RHN001 [4] , which Rhine Pharma is now advancing into a novel Phase I/IIa theranostic clinical study (the ' RHINO Trial' ), exploring the safety profile and efficacy of both 99m Tc-RHN001 and 188 Re-RHN001 in patients with advanced prostate cancer. Because 99m Tc and 188 Re can each be produced using on-site generators, they enable a highly-differentiated solution for regions with limited radiopharmaceutical manufacturing infrastructure or dispersed populations. 99m Tc enables imaging of patients with widely available SPECT scanners, while 188 Re has demonstrated potential as a therapeutic isotope, thanks to its high-energy beta emission that maximises damage to tumour cells.
Its short half-life (16.9 hours) also has the potential to simplify patient workflows .
