Advanced Accelerator Applications S.A, a Novartis company and leader in nuclear medicine theragnostics, announced that it has entered into an exclusive worldwide license agreement with Cancer Targeted Technology, LLC (CTT) to develop and market an investigational new drug product, F-18-labeled CTT1057. CTT1057 is a ligand of Prostate-Specific Membrane Antigen (PSMA) for Positron Emission Tomography (PET) imaging of prostate cancer.

CTT has developed a phosphoramidate-based peptide, which specifically binds to PSMA. A phase I study in 20 patients was conducted at the University of California, San Francisco. AAA will work to further develop and commercialize this diagnostic agent for prostate cancer. The terms of the agreement include an upfront licensing fee, as well as certain milestone and royalty payments.

Susanne Schaffert, Ph.D., chairperson and president of Advanced Accelerator Applications, stated, “This agreement expands our position in the important prostate cancer space. PSMA diagnostics represent an accurate staging and risk assessment tool with the potential to change patient management decisions. CTT1057 is highly complementary to our existing F-18 PET portfolio and AAA is well suited to exploit this opportunity with our proven manufacturing and development capabilities.”

“We are very excited to enter into this license agreement with AAA,” commented Beatrice Langton-Webster, Ph.D., chief executive officer of Cancer Targeted Technology. “We are very encouraged by the results of our recently completed Phase I clinical trial and believe that AAA has the right expertise and team to rapidly develop this important new PSMA-directed diagnostic for prostate cancer.”

Prostate cancer is the most frequent malignant tumor in men worldwide, affecting nearly one in seven men during their lifetime. After initial therapy, biochemical recurrence is common and is usually expressed by an elevation in prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels. PET imaging with PSMA ligands has been shown to improve the detection of metastatic lesions, even at low serum PSA values in biochemically recurrent prostate cancer.