Radiotherapy developer Eckert & Ziegler will acquire a minority interest in a Chinese-German radiopharmaceuticals joint venture.
Eckert & Ziegler is investing in OctreoPharm, which specializes in radiopharmaceuticals for nuclear medicine and focuses on the clinical development of new types of radiopharmaceuticals for diagnostics and treatment in oncology.
OctreoPharm Sciences has various peptides currently in preclinical development as a potential solution for detecting neuroendocrine tumors using PET, the company said. Depending on the radionuclide it is coupled with, it could be used both in diagnosing (gallium-68) and treating (yttrium-90) such tumors. Phase I clinical testing is due to begin toward the end of next year.
