Lantheus expands into immuno-oncology and pharmaceutical services business throughthe license of NanoMab’s NM-01, an anti-PD-L1 imaging biomarker, designed to evaluate tumor immune activity and potentially guide future patient selection for immuno-oncology treatment

NORTH BILLERICA, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 30, 2019-- Lantheus Holdings, Inc. (the “Company”) (NASDAQ: LNTH), parent company of Lantheus Medical Imaging, Inc. (“LMI”), a global leader in the development, manufacture and commercialization of innovative diagnostic imaging agents, today announced that it has entered into a strategic collaboration and license agreement with NanoMab Technology Limited (“NanoMab”), a privately-held biopharmaceutical company focusing on the development of next generation radiopharmaceuticals to be used in the development of immuno-oncology therapies. This collaboration will provide the first broadly-available imaging biomarker research tool to pharmaceutical companies and top academic centers conducting research and development on immuno-oncology treatments, including combination therapies.

Since the first programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) inhibitors launched in 2014, the global checkpoint inhibitor market has grown to greater than $14 billion in 2018 and is anticipated to continue growing at a double-digit rate1. Currently more than 1,500 clinical trials on checkpoint inhibitors are ongoing according to the Cancer Research Institute, an increase of six fold in the last three years2.
Although PD-(L)1 checkpoint inhibitors have achieved impressive results in certain patient populations, improving response rates and extending survival across multiple tumor types, challenges remain in optimizing the use of these therapies. Across tumor types, only about 20% of patients respond to treatment with checkpoint inhibitors, even with the use of PD-L1 immuno-histochemistry assays to select patients3. There is a need for biomarkers that improve utilization of immunotherapies by identifying those patients most likely to benefit from therapy, which may also serve to avoid unnecessary cost to patients and health systems.

Under the collaboration agreement, Lantheus will license NanoMab’s NM-01, a proprietary radiopharmaceutical biomarker camelid single-domain antibody that has demonstrated a high affinity for PD-L1 protein. NM-01 could provide a specific, non-invasive approach to diagnosis, including use in whole-body imaging, or virtual biopsy. NM-01 potentially allows detection of PD-L1 expression in immuno-oncology studies, either before or during immuno-oncology treatment. Lantheus will provide NM-01 as a clinical research tool, together with support and analytics, to pharmaceutical companies and the largest academic centers conducting clinical research in immuno-oncology.

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