Eli Lilly is continuing to pursue its newfound passion for radiopharmaceuticals, this time handing Radionetics Oncology $140 million in upfront cash to partner on its pipeline of G protein coupled receptor (GPCR) targeted drugs.
The agreement also gives Lilly the option to buy the Crinetics spinout for a cool $1 billion at the end of an exercise period.
Lilly dived into the nascent radiopharma space by acquiring Point Biopharma for $1.4 billion in late 2023. The takeover included a manufacturing plant, R&D campus and pipeline led by a PSMA-targeted radioligand therapy, giving Lilly a launchpad for a broader push to make the modality a key part of its oncology pipeline.
Then in May of this year, the Big Pharma paid Aktis Oncology $60 million upfront to work on therapeutic and diagnostic products against multiple targets. Aktis has been combining its radioactive isotopes with miniproteins, prioritizing selectivity and tumor penetration.
“We are fortunate to have entered into an agreement with Lilly given its global development capability, oncology expertise, and the radiopharmaceutical experience and capabilities Lilly is building following the acquisition of POINT Biopharma," Radionetics CEO Paul Grayson said in the July 1 release.
Crinetics spun out its radiopharma unit into Radionetics in 2021. The biotech's platform consists of non-peptide small molecules that aim to bind to peptide receptors selectively expressed on various tumors.
The biotech hauled in a $52.5 million series A at the start of this year, bringing the total the company had raised to date to $82.5 million. At the same time, Tentarix Biotherapeutics CEO Paul Grayson jumped across to lead Radionetics.
When the biotech first launched, it aimed to advance its candidates into clinical trials. Since then, the only asset the company has announced has entered human trials is Ga-R8760, a radioligand imaging agent being developed for patients diagnosed with adrenocortical carcinoma. However, Radionetics used that announcement in October 2023 to refer to “plans to have three clinical programs by 2024.”
In the July 1 release, Radionetics Chief Operating Officer Brett Ewald said the biotech’s platform “uniquely pairs the power of radiopharmaceuticals with the precision of small molecule targeting to novel GPCRs.”
“We have a specialized team that is focused on rapidly advancing each of our promising programs to bring these much-needed new therapies to patients,” Ewald added.
The radiopharma space has seen a frenzy of dealmaking since the end of last year, with Novartis’ $1 billion buyout of Mariana Oncology in May being a recent highlight.