Innovation alliance for new solutions in cancer treatment

Radionuclide theranostics offer impressive potential in the diagnosis and treatment of complex diseases such as various types of cancer. Enormous market growth is forecast for these drugs worldwide. In the Saxon Network for Radionuclide Theranostics (SNRT) eight partners have come together to play a major role in shaping progress in nuclear medicine. The aim is to create a regional entrepreneurial alliance for innovation that will become a leading European production and business location for radiopharmaceuticals. From November 2023, the network, which includes the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR), five companies as well as the TU Dresden and the VKTA – Strahlenschutz, Analytik & Entsorgung Rossendorf e.V. from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) for the next three years with funding totalling 12 million euros.

The great medical potential of radionuclide theranostics lies in particular in the targeted diagnostic and therapeutic options for tumours, which ideally can even be combined in one drug (theranostics). Many cancer cells have specific structures, so-called markers, to which suitable molecules, so-called ligands, bind as counterparts. When labelled with radioactive substances, these radionuclide ligands selectively attach themselves to the corresponding cancer cells in the patient. This makes it possible to identify even the smallest tumours at an early stage during diagnostics. In radioligand therapy, the diseased cells can then be precisely targeted with increased radioactive radiation. In contrast to other forms of treatment with sometimes serious side effects, such as chemotherapy, the healthy tissue is hardly affected.

However, these new application possibilities for medical radionuclides are currently still faced with unsatisfactory market requirements, such as the provision of sufficient quantities in the quality required by regulations and independence from global events to ensure patient care. For this reason, the SNRT has set itself the goal of building the scientific and technical basis for new solutions and developing concrete answers to supply gaps that are already recognisable today. Together, the partners want to develop highly effective radiopharmaceuticals for new diagnostic and therapeutic applications in oncology, urology and neurology. On the other hand, the manufacturing processes for medical radionuclides are to be improved and expanded and new products and services offered on the market.

The conditions in Saxony are ideal for this, as the density of radiopharmaceutical research institutions and companies here, especially in the Dresden-Radeberg region, is unique. A total of around 1,000 people are already employed in the radiopharmaceutical sector. The SNRT aims to utilise this locational advantage, consolidate existing expertise and expand successful collaborations in the development, production and application of drugs labelled with radionuclides (radiopharmaceuticals).

To this end, it is necessary to make medical radionuclides - the radioactive basic substance for diagnostic and therapeutic or combined drugs - available in sufficient quantities during the preclinical development phase and for clinical studies. „In order to enable further developments with new radionuclides, the aim of the alliance is to concentrate all processes from research to use in the clinics regionally and thus offer optimal conditions for the production of nuclear medicine drugs in Saxony“, explains HZDR Innovation Manager Dorit Teichmann the orientation of the SNRT. The consortium is managed by the HZDR together with the companies ROTOP Pharmaka and qualitype 

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With its expertise and structures, the SNRT fits perfectly into the BMBF's programme line „RUBIN“ (Regional Entrepreneurial Networks for Innovation), from which the funding flows. Prof Klaus Kopka, Director at the HZDR Institute for Radiopharmaceutical Cancer Research, associates the RUBIN funding with a vision: „The region in and around Dresden has an excellent opportunity by international standards to establish and build up local value chains through the activities of the SNRT in order to develop into the leading European innovation and production location for radionuclide theranostics.“

Partner of SNRT

The partners directly involved with their respective core competences in the SNRT are:

• ROTOP Pharmaka GmbH: Development, authorisation and GMP-compliant production of radiopharmaceuticals
• CUP Laboratorien Dr. Freitag GmbH: Chemical, physico-chemical and microbiological analyses and custom synthesis with a focus on radiopharmaceuticals
• Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf e. V. (HZDR), Institute of Radiopharmaceutical Cancer Research: Development and production of radionuclides as well as linkers and chelators
• TU Dresden, Medical Faculty, Clinic and Polyclinic for Nuclear Medicine: Clinical translation of new radiopharmaceuticals; TU Dresden / BIOTEC
• BIOTYPE GmbH: Development and production of molecular diagnostic test systems
• qualitype GmbH: Software for digital laboratory processes
• VKTA – Strahlenschutz, Analytik und Entsorgung Rossendorf e. V.: Radiation protection, analysis and disposal
• Jähne GmbH für Produktinnovation: Automation, design and production of systems in medical technology

Press release of the "HZDR" from 23 October 2023