Radium Ra-223 Dichloride

VALENCIA, Calif., Dec. 03, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Nusano, a physics company transforming the production of radioisotopes, today announced the creation of a Medical Radioisotopes Advisory Board. This panel of internationally recognized leaders in nuclear medicine will provide strategic guidance to Nusano, ensuring its product development aligns with emerging trends and with the needs of cancer patients. The board will also guide the development of isotopes for next-generation theranostic compounds. “As a radioisotope producer, Nusano plays a critical role in the supply chains of drug developers, healthcare providers and researchers,” said Chris Lowe, CEO of Nusano. “Establishing a Medical Radioisotopes Advisory Board reflects our ongoing commitment to proactively enabling the next generation of oncology research. The board’s guidance will ensure Nusano is providing a stable and scalable supply of isotopes for new areas of research and patient care.” Radioisotopes are essential components in the active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) used in new and emerging cancer therapies including molecular radiation. Existing supply chains for these treatment-enabling resources are often strained, posing a risk to patient care, clinical trials, and ongoing drug development. Nusano is working to stabilize supply chains and enable innovation by bringing new sources of radioisotopes to multiple markets. Opening in 2025 in West Valley City, Utah, the Nusano production platform will be capable of generating more than 40 radioisotopes applicable to medical and industrial uses. It is anchored by a proprietary ion source technology which accelerates heavy particles (alphas and deuterons) to generate high volume, high quality (CGMP-grade) radioisotopes with unparalleled efficiency using eco-friendly methods. The result is one of the first significant advancements in radioisotope production in decades. The five members of the Nusano advisory board are (listed alphabetically by last name): Munir GhesaniMunir Ghesani, MD, FACNM, FACR, FSNMMI, is the Medical Director of United Theranostics in Princeton and the Chief Medical Officer of United Theranostics. He previously served as the Systems Chief of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging at Mount Sinai Health System in New York. Dr. Ghesani has been actively involved in clinical practice, research, clinical trials, and education for over 25 years, primarily focusing on nuclear medicine, molecular imaging, and targeted radiopharmaceutical therapies. Dr. Ghesani has authored more than 200 publications in peer-reviewed journals and is the Editor-in-Chief of a three-part book on nuclear medicine and molecular imaging. He has delivered over 150 presentations at regional, national, and international conferences. Dr. Ghesani has held leadership roles in various societies and colleges, including Immediate Past President of the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI), Past-President of the Education and Research Foundation of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, Past Chairman of the American Board of Nuclear Medicine, Past Chairman of the Government Relations Committee, and the FDA Task Force of the SNMMI, as well as Past Chairman of the Nuclear Medicine and PET Accreditation Committee of the American College of Radiology. In January 2020, he was awarded the ACNM Personal Best Mentor of the Year. He has also been recognized as a Fellow of the American College of Nuclear Medicine (2006), the American College of Radiology (2018), and the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (2023). Suzanne LapiSuzanne E. Lapi, Ph.D. is the Emmet O’Neal II Professor, O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center and Professor of Radiology and Chemistry and Cyclotron Facility Director at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She is also the Vice Chair of Research in the Department of Radiology. Her research interests are in the development and translation of new PET radionuclides and molecular imaging agents. She has over 150 publications and is principal investigator on active research grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and United States Department of Energy (DOE), as well as industry partners. She oversees production of PET radionuclides and imaging radiopharmaceuticals for preclinical research and clinical trials. Her group holds more than 15 approved INDs and supplies Cu-64, Zr-89, Mn-52 and other isotopes to groups across the USA and internationally. She is a Fellow of the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) and a strong advocate of radiopharmaceutical sciences and the training of future nuclear and radiochemists at the graduate, postdoctoral and faculty levels. Luke NordquistThe CEO of the XCancer® Organization, Dr. Luke Nordquist is a practicing Medical Oncologist with an expertise in prostate cancer. Nordquist’s Community Cancer Center in Omaha, Neb. is internationally known, gaining recognition for its participation in early and late phase radiopharmaceutical trials of Ra-223, Lu-177, Ac-225, Th-227, Pb-212, Zr89, In111, Cu-64, and Cu-67. Nordquist and his XCancer team have conducted over 40 imaging & therapeutic Theranostic trials to date including 22 Firsts-in-World trials. His research program is recognized for rapid start-ups, high accruals, and exceptional data timeliness and quality. Dr. Nordquist is also the Founder of TheranosticTrials.Org, a digital platform increasing education and access of global Theranostic trials. Through his XCancer® Research Network, Nordquist is working to provide access to cutting edge clinical trials closer to home. In so doing, he and his collaborators are to increase community cancer center participation and drive improved access for cancer patients regardless of geography. Philip KooDr. Koo is the Chief of Diagnostic Imaging at the Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center in Phoenix, AZ. Prior to this, he was Chief of Nuclear Medicine and Associate Professor of Radiology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. Dr. Koo completed his transitional internship at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center-Presbyterian, radiology residency at Pennsylvania Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania Health System, and fellowship at the Harvard Medical School Joint Program in Nuclear Medicine. He is a diplomate of both the American Board of Radiology (ABR) and American Board of Nuclear Medicine. Dr. Koo’s academic interests have focused on nuclear medicine in prostate cancer and response to novel therapies using PET, with over 80 peer reviewed publications and abstracts. He has lectured nationally and internationally on topics related to imaging and radiopharmaceutical based therapies in prostate cancer. Dr. Koo is the Founding Chair of the SNMMI Therapeutics Conference and received the SNMMI Presidential Distinguished Service Award in 2022. Neal ShoreNeal Shore, MD, FACS, graduated from Duke University and Duke University Medical School. He completed his general surgery/urology residency at New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center/Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. He serves as the Medical Director for the Carolina Urologic Research Center. Dr. Shore has conducted more than 400 clinical trials, focusing mainly on genitourinary oncology, and has authored more than 350 peer-reviewed publications and numerous book chapters. He serves on the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) Guidelines Committee for Bladder Cancer, as well as the boards of the Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network, the APCCC Scientific Steering Committee, Maple Tree Cancer Alliance, and the Duke Global Health Institute. He is the Chair of both the Prostate Cancer Academy and the Bladder/Kidney Cancer Academy, and the co-chair of the annual AUA International Prostate Forum. He has served/serves on the editorial boards of Reviews in Urology, Urology Times, Chemotherapy Advisor, OncLive, PLOS ONE, Urology Practice, JUOP, Everyday Urology Oncology and World Journal of Urology. He is the Editor-in-Chief of Reviews in Urology. He is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons and a Certified Physician Investigator. About NusanoNusano is a privately held physics company committed to bringing supply stability and innovation to the rapidly emerging and critically undersupplied medical radioisotopes market, and to serving industrial and commercial markets dependent on reliable access to high quality radioisotopes for their products and services. Driven by the company’s proprietary ion source, the Nusano production platform will generate radioisotopes in volumes and varieties exceeding other production methods. Nusano’s breakthrough technologies are poised to help supply the fight against cancer and enable innovation across multiple industries. For more, please visit nusano.com. Contacts: Media: Scott Larrivee, Nusano, 608-345-6629, scott.larrivee@nusano.comInvestor Relations: Joyce Allaire, LifeSci Advisors, LLC, 212-915-2569, jallaire@lifesciadvisors.com

Highlights include a late-breaking oral abstract that is part of ASTRO’s press program, theranostics (therapy and diagnostics), and use of artificial intelligence to evaluate cancer patients’ immune response to radiotherapy LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--City of Hope ® , one of the largest and most advanced cancer research and treatment organizations in the U.S. and ranked among the nation’s top 5 cancer centers by U.S. News & World Report, is part of today’s press conference program at the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) Annual Meeting , where a renowned City of Hope radiation oncologist will present phase 3 clinical trial data showing that people with limited-stage small cell lung cancer may benefit from adding immunotherapy to chemoradiation, but not if both treatments are given at the same time. The results suggest that the timing of when immunotherapy is given plays a key role in its ability to extend survival. “The introduction of immunotherapy marked the first significant breakthrough in treating small cell lung cancer treatment in decades. Now, we see that if you give immunotherapy concurrently with chemoradiation, it does not yield the same survival benefit as it does when we add it after standard treatment,” said lead author Kristin Higgins , M.D., a radiation oncologist, clinical professor and chief clinical officer at City of Hope Cancer Center Atlanta. Dr. Higgins is presenting the late-breaking abstract at a 10 a.m. ET press conference today in room 103A of the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C.; the scientific plenary will take place at 2:10 p.m. ET in Ballroom A/B/C. ASTRO is the world’s largest radiation oncology society, with more than 10,000 members. Radiation therapy contributes to 40% of global cancer cures, and more than 1 million Americans receive radiation treatments for cancer each year. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in the U.S. An aggressive form of the disease is small cell lung cancer, which accounts for 10-15% of all lung cancers. Standard treatment for patients with limited-stage disease that has not spread outside the chest and is potentially curable includes concurrent radiation therapy and chemotherapy. While treatments can be effective initially, the cancer often recurs and options for additional treatment have historically been limited. Dr. Higgins and her colleagues randomized 544 patients at centers across the U.S. (n=500) and Japan (n=44) to receive standard chemoradiation with or without atezolizumab immunotherapy. All patients received radiation therapy either twice daily or once daily as well as four cycles of concurrent chemotherapy. For patients on the experimental arm, atezolizumab was also given every three weeks beginning at the start of radiation, for a maximum of one year. Contrary to expectations, concurrent treatment with atezolizumab and chemoradiation did not improve survival rates compared to standard care. The lack of survival benefit when giving immunotherapy together with chemoradiation, rather than after radiation is completed, indicates that the activity of this type of immunotherapy is reduced when given simultaneously with thoracic radiation, likely due the inherent immunosuppressive effects of radiation, Dr. Higgins explained. “We know that radiation suppresses the immune system to a certain degree in the immediate sense, and immunotherapy relies on the immune system to be effective,” she said. “Adding these drugs after you give radiation can make the immunotherapy more potent, but you have to allow the immune system time to recover to really see the two work well together.” There was a benefit to giving radiation twice daily over giving it once daily, regardless of study arm. In both groups, patients treated twice daily lived longer on average; median overall survival for those treated twice daily was 35.4 months, compared to 28.3 months for people treated once per day. “Sometimes, if you give too much therapy at the same time, it actually yields worse outcomes. And this trial demonstrated that. But at the same time, we did see that changing the way you give radiation can help,” Dr. Higgins said, noting that City of Hope continues to be at the forefront of a powerful form of immunotherapy known as chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy . City of Hope researchers are among the scientists working to develop and test new lung cancer immunotherapy treatments. Other world-renowned City of Hope physicians and researchers also will present new data and offer expert perspectives on leading-edge cancer research and treatments in development. Is biology-guided radiotherapy an option for people with prostate cancer? Presentation time and location: Monday, Sept. 30, from 3:50 to 4 p.m. ET in Room 145 City of Hope was the first in Southern California and among the first in the nation to adopt a type of biology-guided radiotherapy called SCINTIX therapy that later in 2023 was cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. This study, led by Chunhui Han , Ph.D., City of Hope clinical professor of radiation oncology, included prostate cancer patients and resulted in the development of a comprehensive set of screening criteria to identify people who would benefit from this leading-edge, personalized radiation oncology treatment. City of Hope aims to develop efficient protocols so that other institutions one day can also implement the SCINTIX therapy on the RefleXion X1. Phase 2 trial with leukemia patients could lead to radiotherapy that attempts to bypass harm to organs Presentation time and location: Monday, Sept. 30, from 5:10 to 5:20 p.m. ET in Room 144 In a phase 2 trial noted as the largest prospective study using total marrow and lymphoid irradiation (TMLI), Jeffrey Wong , M.D., City of Hope professor of radiation oncology, Anthony Stein , M.D., and colleagues treated 74 patients with either acute myeloid leukemia (AML) or acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) with TMLI, which delivers targeted radiation to bone marrow while reducing negative impact to organs. The team developed a regimen that could be an effective hematopoietic cell transplant option for AML and ALL patients with recurrent cancer or disease that has become resistant to treatment. The regimen is currently under evaluation as a potential replacement for standard total body irradiation conditioning in patients with AML who are in complete remission. City of Hope’s bone marrow and blood stem cell transplant program is the largest in the country; its doctors have performed nearly 20,000 transplants to date. Study evaluating effectiveness of pre-transplant radiotherapy that limits toxicity to organs Presentation time and location: Tuesday, Oct. 1, from 1:25 to 1:35 p.m. ET in Room 144 Colton Ladbury , M.D., City of Hope assistant professor of radiation oncology, led the largest study to date reporting long-term toxicities resulting from total marrow irradiation (TMI) and total marrow and lymphoid irradiation (TMLI), both of which are used to prepare patients for a stem cell transplant. Some 302 patients with multiple myeloma or acute leukemia were followed for up to eight years with median follow-up of 6.3 years in living patients. They found that TMI/TMLI is associated with lower rates of pulmonary toxicity, renal toxicity and hypothyroidism compared with historical cohorts treated with conventional total body irradiation. Dr. Ladbury is one of 12 residents in the world to receive an ASTRO recognition award for his quick pitch oral. The award is designed to highlight excellence among peers at the largest annual meeting of radiation oncologists from around the globe. A potentially better way to deliver radiotherapy and chemotherapy to people with lung cancer Presentation time and location: Tuesday, Oct. 1, from 1:25 to 1:35 p.m. ET in Room 147 In an early-phase trial, researchers led by Percy Lee , M.D., City of Hope professor of radiation oncology, found that it is safe and effective to treat patients with locally advanced, inoperable non-small cell lung cancer using chemoradiation via a dose-escalated adaptive stereotactic ablative radiotherapy boost in 15 sessions of radiation instead of the standard 30 sessions as they also receive chemotherapy. Using AI to evaluate immune system response Presentation time and location: Tuesday, Oct. 1, from 1:25 to 1:35 p.m. ET in Room 152 Immuno-positron emission tomography (ImmunoPET) allows for spatial evaluation of white blood cell distributions. William Tyler Watkins, Ph.D., physicist and City of Hope associate clinical professor, led a research team that leveraged artificial intelligence (AI) to segment the human body and evaluate CD8+ T cell concentrations before and after radiation therapy. The model was validated using data from five patients in an ongoing clinical trial and identifies varying patient-specific immune system response following radiation treatment. Novel theranostic PET imaging agent for patients with advanced rectal cancer Presentation time and location: Tuesday, Oct. 1, from 5:15 to 5:25 p.m. ET in Room 152 In an ongoing pilot study, Jeffrey Wong , M.D., City of Hope professor of radiation oncology, and colleagues found that a radioactive molecule attached to a monoclonal antibody (Cu-64-Anti-CEA M5A) shows promise as a theranostic — therapy plus diagnostic — tool that allows experts to identify disease sites in patients with rectal cancer. It also shows promise as a way to assess response to chemotherapy and radiotherapy received before cancer treatment, such as surgery. More research is needed to fully understand this therapeutic’s disease targeting and efficacy capabilities. The below oral presentations have already been presented. A promising treatment regimen for prostate cancer patients Presentation time and location: Sunday, Sept. 29, from 8:30 to 8:40 a.m. ET in Room 207B Early data from an ongoing phase 2 trial led by Savita Dandapani , M.D., Ph.D., City of Hope associate professor of radiation oncology, suggests that a promising treatment regimen for patients with metastatic castration-sensitive prostate cancer is radium 223 dichloride (Ra-223) combined with stereotactic body radiation therapy delivered to tumors that have spread to bone. The treatment plan should include 36 weeks of androgen deprivation therapy combined with the radiation. This is an early trial to show that the use of systemic radiation (radiopharmaceuticals) with stereotactic body radiation treatment may help prevent progression of micrometastases. A new way to determine the strength of phase 3 cancer clinical trials Presentation time and location: Sunday, Sept. 29, from 5:05 to 5:15 p.m. ET in Room 207B A team of researchers led by Yufei Liu , M.D., Ph.D., City of Hope assistant clinical professor of radiation oncology, developed a benchmark to assess the strength of phase 3 clinical trials. They evaluated a database of 332 phase 3 oncology trials and found that targeted therapy trials, trials with progression-free survival as a final endpoint and positive trials tend to have the most robust, reproducible data. More work needs to be done to validate the developed benchmark, which could then be leveraged to design better clinical trials. About City of Hope City of Hope’s mission is to make hope a reality for all touched by cancer and diabetes. Founded in 1913, City of Hope has grown into one of the largest and most advanced cancer research and treatment organizations in the U.S., and one of the leading research centers for diabetes and other life-threatening illnesses. City of Hope research has been the basis for numerous breakthrough cancer medicines , as well as human synthetic insulin and monoclonal antibodies. With an independent, National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center that is ranked top 5 in the nation for cancer care by U.S. News & World Report at its core, City of Hope’s uniquely integrated model spans cancer care, research and development, academics and training, and a broad philanthropy program that powers its work. City of Hope’s growing national system includes its Los Angeles campus, a network of clinical care locations across Southern California, a new cancer center in Orange County, California, and cancer treatment centers and outpatient facilities in the Atlanta, Chicago and Phoenix areas. City of Hope’s affiliated group of organizations includes Translational Genomics Research Institute and AccessHope TM . For more information about City of Hope, follow us on Facebook , X , YouTube , Instagram and LinkedIn . Contacts Zen Logsdon 626-409-9367 zlogsdon@coh.org