Telix Announces Licence Agreement with Lilly for Olaratumab

Telix announces a licence agreement for Lilly’s olaratumab antibody, for diagnosis and treatment of human cancers.

Telix is pleased to announce that it has entered into a licence agreement with Eli Lilly and Company (Lilly) under which Telix is granted exclusive worldwide rights to develop and commercialise radiolabelled forms of Lilly’s olaratumab antibody for the diagnosis and treatment of human cancers. Telix’s initial development focus will be on a rare type of cancer known as soft tissue sarcoma (STS).

Olaratumab was originally developed by Lilly as a (non-radiolabelled) monoclonal antibody targeting Platelet Derived Growth Factor Receptor Alpha (PDGFRα). PDGFRα is expressed in multiple tumour types including STS. STS is generally a radiation susceptible cancer that may be inherently amenable to systemic radionuclide therapy and olaratumab’s ability to target PDGFRα makes it a highly novel and potentially exciting candidate for use as a radionuclide targeting agent. The exclusive worldwide licence will allow Telix to repurpose olaratumab as a targeting agent for radiopharmaceutical imaging and therapy of cancer. Olaratumab has an established safety profile that underpins its potential use as a radionuclide targeting agent.