Radiopharmaceutical market happenings

Aug. 16, 2022
The past five years have brought renewed vigor to what could be the next pillar in oncology

With a market estimated to exceed $13 billion by 2030 and a space lit up with acquisitions, new company launches and clinical trials, therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals have gone mainstream. This new generation of radiopharmaceutical companies is stacked with experts who are laser-focused on correcting the missteps and misfortunes of earlier pioneers.

As new companies form and new drugs race towards commercialization, industry eyes are watching closely to see if modern radiopharmaceutical companies can work through the kinks of therapies past and advance what many are viewing as the next pillar in oncology. Here are some noteworthy market happenings: 

Oct. 2017: Novartis enters into a $3.9 billion deal to buy France-based Advanced Accelerator Applications, adding add Lutathera, a first-in-class radiopharmaeutical to its portfolio. The FDA approved Lutathera in Jan. 2018.

Oct. 2018: Novartis pays $2.1 billion to acquire Endocyte. The deal gave Novartis 177Lu-PSMA-617, which was approved as Pluvicto in March 2022. 

Oct. 2019: Lantheus acquires Progenics Pharmaceuticals to form a leading precision diagnostics imaging and therapeutics company. With the deal Lantheus gets Azedra, the first and only FDA approved product for the ultra-orphan indications of pheochromocytoma and paraganglioma.

Sept. 2019: U.S-based POINT Biopharma is established, creating a precision oncology company focused on radiopharmaceutical drug development and commercialization.

Oct. 2020: U.S. radiopharma startup RayzeBio launches, with a pipeline of targeted therapies against validated oncology targets, and a focus on actinium-225.

Nov. 2020: Canada-based Fusion Pharma and AstraZeneca sign a deal to develop and commercialize alpha-emitting radiopharmaceuticals and combination therapies for cancer, giving AstraZeneca an entry point into radiopharmaceuticals.

June 2021: Bayer acquires Noria Therapeutics and PSMA Therapeutics, giving Bayer rights to an alpha radionuclide therapy based on actinium-225 and a small molecule targeting PSMA.

Sept. 2021: Australia-based Radiopharm Theranostics launches to develop a platform of radiopharmaceutical assets for both diagnostic and therapeutic uses.

Sept. 2021: CDMO Evergreen Theragnostics opens the doors to its cGMP radiopharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Springfield, NJ.

Oct. 2021:  Radionetics Oncology launches as a spinout of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals, with a focus on targeted, nonpeptide radiopharmaceuticals.

June 2022: Germany-based Ariceum Therapeutics launches, focused on developing radiopharmaceutical products for the diagnosis and systemic targeted radiation therapy of certain hard-to-treat cancers.

Did we miss anything buzz worthy? Let us know.

About the Author

Karen P. Langhauser | Chief Content Director, Pharma Manufacturing

Karen currently serves as Pharma Manufacturing's chief content director.

Now having dedicated her entire career to b2b journalism, Karen got her start writing for Food Manufacturing magazine. She made the decision to trade food for drugs in 2013, when she joined Putman Media as the digital content manager for Pharma Manufacturing, later taking the helm on the brand in 2016.

As an award-winning journalist with 20+ years experience writing in the manufacturing space, Karen passionately believes that b2b content does not have to suck. As the content director, her ongoing mission has been to keep Pharma Manufacturing's editorial look, tone and content fresh and accessible.

Karen graduated with honors from Bucknell University, where she majored in English and played Division 1 softball for the Bison. Happily living in NJ's famed Asbury Park, Karen is a retired Garden State Rollergirl, known to the roller derby community as the 'Predator-in-Chief.'