Development of Targeted Radionuclide Therapy

Targeted radionuclide therapy has been investigated for treatment for cancer for many years. With its delivery of high energy at a short distance, alpha-emitting radionuclides shows great potential to treat patients with different types of cancer. By linking the radionuclide with a vector, a targeted delivery to the tumor site can be achieved. The most used vectors for tumor targeting are small molecules, peptides, antibodies, or antibody fragments. Most studied and widely used are antibodies coupled with radionuclides. Alpha-particles linked to an antibody that targets a specific antigen expressed by a tumor is commonly used in targeted a-therapy (TAT). The primary objective of this PhD project is to achieve new knowledge, skills and methods to advance development of new radiopharmaceuticals to attack and eliminate cancer tumors and metastases, by designing and test the lead-212 labelled proprietary OI-antibodies. Experiments related to identification and selection of the optimal candidates of OI-antibody based therapies will be conducted. The project will be involved in design, development and characterization of the drug candidates, as well as in vitro and in vivo evaluation of effect and safety of the compounds. The disease targets relevant for the antibodies include ovarian cancer, mesothelioma, glioblastoma, and sub-types of breast cancers.

The Industrial Ph.D. project "Development of targeted radionuclide therapy" will be a main activity of the product development and pre-clinical testing of Oncoinvent. The project will be related to development of products of the current pipe-line of the company. The aim of this industrial PhD project is to conduct experiments related to identification and selection of the optimal candidates of OI-antibody based therapies. The project will be involved in design, development and characterization of the drug candidates, as well as in evaluation of effect and safety of the compounds by cell based (in vitro) and animal (in vivo) cancer models. The disease targets relevant for the antibodies include ovarian cancer, mesothelioma, glioblastoma, and sub-types of breast cancers.