Molecular imaging developer Sofie Biosciences has signed an exclusive license agreement with University Hospital Heidelberg in Germany for a new class of radiopharmaceuticals that act as fibroblast activation protein inhibitors (FAPIs).
The deal follows the recent publication of the German researchers' study in the Journal of Nuclear Medicine. They developed radiopharmaceuticals based on gallium-68 (Ga-68), which they used to identify nearly 30 types of malignant tumors with greater uptake and improved image contrast.
These Ga-68 FAPI radiotracers can be labeled alternatively with different radioisotopes, depending on whether they are needed for diagnostic imaging or radiotherapeutic treatment, according to Dr. Uwe Haberkorn, co-inventor of FAPI and professor of nuclear medicine at the university.
"FAPI tracers may be beneficial for radiation therapy planning, suspicion of false-negative findings, staging, identification of primary tumors in patients with cancer of unknown primary or even therapy in the last-line situation, especially in combination with immunotherapy," he said in a statement. "In addition, FAPI imaging may also be used to assess and manage cardiac diseases or fibrotic diseases of the lung, liver, and kidneys."
