Telix Pharmaceuticals Enters Strategic Collaboration with Varian Medical Systems for Advanced Prostate Imaging

MELBOURNE, Australia and PALO ALTO, Calif., Sept. 02, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Telix Pharmaceuticals Limited (ASX: TLX, ‘Telix’, the ‘Company’) today announced it has entered into a strategic collaboration agreement with Palo Alto-based Varian Medical Systems, to evaluate the use of advanced prostate cancer imaging within Varian’s radiation treatment planning platform.

Under the terms of the agreement, the parties will leverage Telix’s extensive clinical data for imaging prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) with positron emission tomography (PET) to potentially develop new image-guided treatment planning functions, automated analysis and artificial intelligence capabilities within Varian’s radiation treatment planning technology platforms. The goal of the collaboration is to ensure that the latest standard of care in prostate imaging is able to be an integral part of radiation treatment planning.

Telix CEO Dr Christian Behrenbruch said "Advanced prostate imaging techniques using PET/CT have evolved as a new standard of care for imaging patients across the prostate cancer continuum, from early through to the advanced stages of disease.¹ Given that radiation therapy is a mainstay of treatment for patients with prostate cancer, we believe it is vitally important that we work with Varian, the radiation oncology market leader, to ensure all men with prostate cancer are offered radiation therapy for maximum clinical benefit.”

Dr Corey Zankowski, Senior Vice President of Varian’s Oncology Software Solutions said "The additional diagnostic and cancer staging information provided by PSMA PET/CT imaging may offer important insights that impact clinical care decisions for prostate cancer patients. This collaboration with Telix will investigate the potential to incorporate this rich diagnostic information into Varian’s bioinformatics and radiation treatment planning platforms to generate highly personalized and targeted radiation therapy for men with prostate cancer.”

About Prostate Cancer

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men, with an estimated 192,000 new cases and 33,000 deaths from prostate cancer in the United States expected in 2020.² Prostate cancer is more common in older men, with approximately 60% of cases diagnosed in men over 65 years of age. Due to high rates of screening, over 90% of prostate cancers are diagnosed early, when the disease is localised to the prostate or nearby tissues. Both surgery and radiation therapy are effective treatment options for men with localised prostate cancer, offering 5-year survival rates over 95%. More than 60,000 men in the United States undergo radiation therapy for prostate cancer annually,³ with advances in medical imaging and radiation treatment planning continuing to increase the effectiveness and reduce the side effects of radiation therapy.⁴

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¹ Trabulsi EJ, et al. Optimum Imaging Strategies for Advanced Prostate Cancer; ASCO Guideline. J Clin Oncol 38: 1963 – 1996 (published online January 15, 2020).
² American Cancer Society: https://www.cancer.org/cancer/prostate-cancer/about/key-statistics.html.
³ Prostate Cancer Foundation: https://www.pcf.org/c/treatment-for-prostate-cancer-external-beam-radiation-therapy/.
⁴ Garibaldi c, et al. Recent advances in radiation oncology. Ecancermedicalscience. 2017; 11: 85.

About Telix Pharmaceuticals Limited 

Telix is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of diagnostic and therapeutic products using Molecularly Targeted Radiation (MTR). Telix is headquartered in Melbourne with international operations in Belgium, Japan and the United States. Telix is developing a portfolio of clinical-stage oncology products that address significant unmet medical needs in prostate, kidney and brain cancer. Telix is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX: TLX). For more information visit www.telixpharma.com.

About Varian Medical Systems Inc.

At Varian, we envision a world without fear of cancer. For more than 70 years, we have developed, built and delivered innovative cancer care technologies and solutions for our clinical partners around the globe to help them treat millions of patients each year. With an Intelligent Cancer Care approach, we are harnessing advanced technologies like artificial intelligence, machine learning and data analytics to enhance cancer treatment and expand access to care. Our 10,000 employees across 70 countries keep the patient and our clinical partners at the center of our thinking as we power new victories in cancer care. Because, for cancer patients everywhere, their fight is our fight. For more information, visit http://www.varian.com and follow @VarianMedSys on Twitter.