Akiram Therapeutics has signed an agreement with ITM for the supply of non-carrier-added lutetium-177 (n.c.a. Lu-177) to support the ongoing clinical trial of AKIR001, its lead radiopharmaceutical candidate for the treatment of solid tumours.

Lu-177 is one of the most widely used medical radioisotopes in targeted radionuclide therapy and serves as the active payload in AKIR001, making reliable access to the isotope essential to the candidate’s clinical development.

Marika Nestor, Chief Executive Officer of Akiram Therapeutics, said: “This agreement helps secure an important component for the continued development of AKIR001 and marks a significant step in advancing the programme designed to address a primary driver of aggressive cancers.”

AKIR001 is a targeted radiopharmaceutical drug candidate that combines the therapeutic radioisotope n.c.a. Lu-177 with a proprietary antibody targeting CD44v6, a cancer marker associated with several aggressive tumour types. The approach is designed to deliver radiation selectively to tumour cells while limiting exposure to healthy tissue. The candidate is currently being evaluated in a Phase I clinical trial (NCT06639191) at Stockholm’s Karolinska University Hospital in patients with irresectable or metastatic CD44v6-positive solid tumours, including lung, head and neck, thyroid, and gynaecological cancers.

“This agreement with Akiram allows us to provide a dependable, high-quality source of n.c.a. Lu-177 for their clinical trials and research that may, in time, prove genuinely transformative,” said Dr Andrew Cavey, Chief Executive Officer at ITM.