Defence Therapeutics Inc. (CSE: DTC) (OTCQB: DTCFF) (FSE: DTC) ("Defence" or the "Company"), a publicly traded biotechnology company developing next-generation precision oncology therapeutics using its proprietary Accum® technology, is pleased to announce the expansion of its radiopharmaceutical development program to evaluate alpha-emitting and beta-emitting radioisotopes. This expansion is to broaden the capability of the Accum® platform, which is designed to facilitate intracellular transport for enhanced payload delivery.
The initiative reflects Defence's growing strategic focus on radiopharmaceuticals, a rapidly advancing area of precision oncology where the Company believes Accum® has significant potential to create novel products and improve existing ones. Accum® improves how well radioactive drugs get inside cancer cells, allowing more of the cancer-killing payload to reach its target and destroy the tumor from within. Defence is accelerating the development of its internal radiopharmaceutical program to further evaluate this potential and advance Accum®-enabled radio-immunoconjugates candidates toward clinical development.
Defence's radiopharmaceuticals program will evaluate alpha emitters, such as Actinium-225, for their high-energy, short-range localized cellular damage. Concurrently, the Company will evaluate beta emitters, such as Lutetium-177, for their medium-energy, longer-range penetration profiles, allowing for a comprehensive comparison of how different isotope properties are enhanced by the Accum® platform.
The expanded program is designed to generate comparative pharmacology, efficacy and safety data across both isotope classes while further establishing Accum® as a versatile intracellular delivery platform for a variety of radioisotope payloads. The ongoing preclinical programs are focused on the Accum® platform's core mechanism to optimize accumulation in target cells and reduce off-target toxicity. By building out the preclinical data, Defence aims to deliver clinical candidates and strengthen the Company's growing pipeline of proprietary radiopharmaceutical assets.
"By expanding our platform development to evaluate both alpha and beta isotopes as distinct pathways, we can comprehensively analyze the compatibility of Accum® with different payload profiles," says Dr. Ryan Simms, Defence's newly instated Chief Operating Officer and Head of Radiopharmaceuticals Program.
"This parallel development program gives Defence the data required to optimize Accum®-enhanced radio-immunoconjugates for diverse candidate selections and to establish Accum® as a technology capable of enhancing the next generation of targeted therapies across multiple therapeutic modalities," says Dr. Amie Phinney, President and Chief Executive Officer of Defence Therapeutics.
Defence Therapeutics is a publicly traded biotechnology company committed to making cancer treatment more effective and safer. Using its Accum® precision drug delivery platform, Defence is working to enhance the potency of ADCs and other complex biologics at lower doses, with the goal of reducing side effects and improving access to advanced therapies. By pursing cutting edge science, and collaborating with pharma and biotech partners, Defence strives to bring transformative therapies to patients who need them most.
