Radiopharmaceutical developer Navidea Biopharmaceuticals has signed an agreement with the University of Pennsylvania to evaluate its technetium-99m tilmanocept radiopharmaceutical as a prognostic agent in glioblastoma.
Led by principal investigator Dr. Ali Nabavizadeh of the university's Perelman School of Medicine, the preclinical studies will evaluate tilmanocept imaging in correlation with tumor growth rate, according to Navidea.
Separately, tilmanocept imaging will be performed before and after anti-interleukin-6 therapy, which has been shown to promote switching of tumor-associated macrophages from an M2 tumor-promoting state to an M1 tumor-suppressing state, Navidea said.
Quantitative results from tilmanocept imaging will be compared with pathology and overall survival.
