Developing the next generation of QC instruments for Targeted Alpha Therapies
1 August 2024
At a glance
> LabLogic and the University of York have signed a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) to develop instrumentation for alpha-emitting radionuclides.
> Supported by Innovate UK, the UK’s innovation agency, KTPs are designed to stimulate innovation and help develop business relationships between industry and academia.
> In addition to developing new quality controls, the initiative will be working to define regulatory strategy and guidance in partnership with international bodies.
The emergence of TAT to fight cancer
Targeted alpha therapies (TAT) have the potential to radically improve the outcomes of cancer treatments by using alpha-emitting radionuclides to enable new diagnostic and therapeutic capabilities. However, the quality controls for impurity identification of alpha-labelled radiopharmaceuticals prior to patient administration are not as fully understood or developed as they are for gamma and beta-emitters, which are rigorously regulated.
To address this challenge, LabLogic is partnering with the University of York’s Nuclear Physics Group through a Knowledge Transfer Partnership to develop the next generation of QC instruments for TAT. Supported by Innovate UK, the UK’s innovation agency, KTPs are designed to stimulate innovation and help develop business relationships between industry and academia.
LabLogic has enjoyed success with KTPs before, with R&D Director Dr Tom Deakin being a former KTP Associate who joined the business from York more than 14 years ago.
Tom said: “The importance and growth of alpha-labelled compounds cannot be understated. It represents the next significant step in the treatment of cancers, and the correlating demand for quality controls is something that LabLogic is well placed to serve given our existing experience.
“This collaboration will deliver us a wealth of knowledge from academia and better places us to deliver the right solutions for this next challenge.”
Technological innovation
The objectives of this exciting new KTP will be to develop instruments capable of performing the key QC metrics of radionuclidic identity, radionuclidic purity, and radiochemical purity for alpha-radiolabelled theranostic compounds. LabLogic is already regarded as a leader of technological innovation in nuclear medicine through its development of smaller instruments which do not compromise on technical performance, and through the introduction of automation to traditionally manual QC methodologies.
The University of York’s Nuclear Physics Group has an excellent knowledge base with established relationships with international facilities such as TRIUMF, Canada’s national particle accelerator centre. The group will bring its experience in sensor development and instrumentation, as well as capabilities to simulate and model radiation detector performance. As part of the KTP, a qualifying candidate, employed at York, will work within LabLogic’s R&D Department to innovate future product development for TAT QC alongside the existing team.
Head of the Nuclear Physics Group, Professor David Jenkins, said: “We are excited by the opportunity to work on this Knowledge Transfer Partnership with LabLogic, who are a world-leading company based in our region. It’s an excellent example of how universities and business can work together to create technology and quality control approaches that will help to enable advanced cancer therapy.”
Defining future strategy and regulatory guidance
The KTP will not only see the development of new instruments but will also be working to define regulatory strategy and guidance. As the analysis of alpha-emitters in theranostics is in its nascent stages given its relatively recent emergence, one of the key aims of the partnership will be to establish quality controls through various international organisations, such as the European Cooperation in Science & Technology Astatine-211 Working Group, which will serve as a reference point at an international level.
By developing new, innovative instruments for alpha radiation measurement and detection, LabLogic and the University of York will enable the future delivery of Targeted Alpha Therapies to improve cancer patient outcomes.
About Innovate UK
Innovate UK drives productivity and economic growth by supporting businesses to develop and realise the potential of new ideas.
We connect businesses to the partners, customers and investors that can help them turn ideas into commercially successful products and services and business growth.
We fund business and research collaborations to accelerate innovation and drive business investment into R&D. Our support is available to businesses across all economic sectors, value chains and UK regions.
Innovate UK is part of UK Research and Innovation. For more information visit www.innovateuk.ukri.org.
About Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs)
Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs) is Europe's leading programme helping businesses to improve their competitiveness by enabling companies to work with higher education or research and technology organisations to obtain knowledge, technology or skills which they consider to be of strategic competitive importance. The UK-wide programme is overseen by Innovate UK, the UK’s innovation agency, and supported by 16 other public sector funding organisations.