On July 21, 2023 Alpha Fusion Inc. (CEO: Nao Fujioka, Kita-ku, Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture) reported the company has signed a joint research agreement with a group led by Director Zhang Mingrong of the Department of Advanced Nuclear Medicine Foundation Research, Institute of Quantum Medicine, Quantum Life and Medicine Division, National Institutes for Quantum and Radiological Science and Technology (President: Shigeo Koyasu, hereinafter referred to as "QST"), to research and develop multiple new astatine therapeutic drugs targeting proteins (undisclosed) that are highly expressed in tumors (Press release, Alpha Fusion, JUL 21, 2023, View Source [SID1234647192]).
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For Alpha Fusion, this will be its second joint research partner in Japan, following Osaka University, a national university corporation.
Targeted Alpha Therapy (TAT), which physically kills cancer cells by binding radioisotopes that emit alpha rays (alpha-emitting nuclides) to compounds that accumulate in cancer cells and injecting them intravenously into cancer patients, is currently attracting worldwide attention. Astatine is one of the alpha-emitting nuclides, and since its clinical usefulness has begun to be demonstrated in basic research and mass production technology is being established, it is expected to be put to practical use.
QST, which has multiple cyclotrons, is one of the world’s leading research institutes in nuclear medicine research, taking advantage of its strength in producing radioisotopes in-house. Director Zhang Ming-rong and his team have a track record of developing and manufacturing numerous nuclear medicine diagnostic and therapeutic drugs, and providing them for clinical research. In recent years, they have also been focusing on TAT drug discovery research using astatine, and have published many research results.
Through this joint research project, AlphaFusion will combine the strengths of QST’s basic research in TAT drug discovery with the strengths of its own TAT drug discovery research and development, further accelerating the development of original therapeutic drugs in the currently rapidly developing field of TAT.
Alpha Fusion will continue to collaborate with a wide range of research institutes and companies both in Japan and overseas, and continue to lead the world in astatine drug discovery.