Ablynx and Algeta ASA have entered a research collaboration to evaluate a Targeted Thorium Conjugate (TTC) combining Algeta’s thorium-227 alpha-pharmaceutical payload with Nanobodies generated using Ablynx’s technology platform. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Ablynx will provide access to Nanobodies against a specific, undisclosed target, and Algeta will provide access to chelation and conjugation technologies, as well as its alpha-emitter thorium-227. Both companies will contribute resources.

Andreas Menrad, chief scientific officer of Ablynx, said, “We are very pleased to be working with Algeta to discover and develop novel cancer therapeutics based on both companies’ proprietary technologies. Our Nanobodies have the potential to selectively and efficiently deliver Algeta’s thorium-227 to the site of the tumor. We are very excited about combining our unique and powerful technology with Algeta’s leading payload expertise to search for breakthrough opportunities in oncology.”

Thomas Ramdahl, executive vice president and chief technology officer of Algeta, said, “The collaboration with Ablynx, the fifth TTC program to be disclosed by Algeta, is designed to evaluate the potential of a Nanobody to act as the targeting molecule for the alpha-pharmaceutical payload, thorium-227. This payload has the potential to provide higher potency and more effective delivery over other therapeutic payloads, with the further advantage that there are no known cellular resistance mechanisms to the cell killing properties of alpha particles.”