Engineering bespoke molecules that carry cancer-killing isotopes straight to the tumor - and leave healthy tissue alone.
Alpha-9 Oncology is a clinical-stage biotech building radiopharmaceuticals - medicines that pair a tumor-seeking molecule with a radioactive isotope. The molecule finds the cancer; the isotope destroys it, at a range measured in cell diameters.
Most cancer therapies circulate through the whole body and rely on the tumor absorbing enough of the dose to matter. Radiopharmaceuticals invert that logic. A targeting molecule - a peptide or small molecule - is engineered to lock onto a marker that appears on tumor cells. Attached to it, through a chemical chelator, is a radioactive payload. Where the molecule binds, the radiation lands.
Alpha-9's distinctive move is refusing to treat any part of that molecule as fixed. Through what it calls a "bespoke, iterative process," the company independently optimizes four components - the binder that recognizes the tumor, the linker that connects the pieces, the chelator that holds the isotope, and the radioisotope itself. Tune each, and the whole molecule delivers more radiation to the tumor and less everywhere else.
The isotopes matter as much as the targeting. Alpha-9 works with alpha emitters such as Actinium-225 and beta emitters such as Lutetium-177. Alpha particles are heavy and travel only a few cell widths before stopping - enough energy to kill a tumor cell without irradiating the tissue next door. That physics is where the company's name comes from.
The result is a platform, not a single drug: a repeatable way to design paired diagnostic-and-therapeutic molecules aimed at validated oncology targets across both solid and liquid tumors.
A radiopharmaceutical is only as good as its weakest component. Alpha-9 engineers each one in-house and tunes them together.
Recognizes and locks onto a marker on the tumor cell surface.
Connects the binder to the payload and tunes how the molecule behaves in the body.
Cage that grips the radioactive isotope so it does not release early.
Alpha or beta emitter that delivers the tumor-killing dose.
Supported by in-house formulation and manufacturing - the "CMC" work of making the same molecule the same way, every time.
An Actinium-225-based targeted radiotherapeutic - the company's alpha-emitting therapeutic candidate.
Phase 1A targeted imaging agent used to identify and confirm patients likely to respond, then match them to therapy.
In the clinicThe discovery engine that generates paired diagnostic-and-therapeutic candidates across validated oncology targets.
Discovery → clinicalTheranostics in practice: image the tumor first, then treat it with a matched radioligand.
Alpha-9 employs a bespoke, iterative process to optimize each part of the molecule - binder, linker, chelator, and radioisotope.
The end beneficiaries are people with solid and liquid tumors, treated through oncologists and hospital nuclear-medicine departments. As a clinical-stage company, its near-term "users" are trial sites and investigators.
Conventional systemic therapy exposes healthy tissue to toxicity. Alpha-9's targeting confines the radioactive dose to the tumor, aiming to widen the gap between efficacy and side effects.
Radioligand therapy went mainstream after big-pharma successes and acquisitions. Alpha-9 competes on platform breadth and secured isotope supply rather than a single asset.
By optimizing all four molecular components independently, Alpha-9 built a discovery engine meant to generate many candidates - the reason investors backed a system rather than a lone asset.
Actinium-225 and non-carrier-added Lutetium-177 are among the scarcest therapeutic isotopes on Earth. Alpha-9 locked in long-term supply through ITM and NorthStar before scaling.
Boston brings capital and clinical reach; Vancouver brings the radiochemistry talent and manufacturing that trace back to its UBC / BC Cancer roots.
Making radioactive medicine reproducibly is the unglamorous hard part. Alpha-9 poured Series C money into chemistry, manufacturing, and controls - the real durable advantage.
Alpha-9 runs the classic clinical-stage biotech model: venture and strategic capital funds R&D toward clinical milestones, partnerships, and eventual commercialization. The 2024 Series C alone was oversubscribed at $175M.
Series C investors: Lightspeed Venture Partners & Ascenta Capital (co-leads), with General Catalyst, a16z Bio + Health, RA Capital Management, Janus Henderson Investors, Delos Capital, Digitalis Ventures, Lumira Ventures, and abrdn Inc. Figures per public announcements; bar widths are proportional and approximate.
Radiopharmaceutical development leader from BC Cancer with 20+ years in the field.
Head of BC Cancer's Radiochemistry Program.
Professor of Chemistry at UBC with deep medicinal-chemistry expertise.
COO Alison Fleming, PhD · CMO Robert Meehan, MD · CFO Clint Musil · CRO Jutta Wanner, PhD.
Chairs a board that includes Shelley Chu, Evan Rachlin, Steven Stein, and Jean-Jacques Bienaimé.
Global master clinical supply agreement for non-carrier-added Lutetium-177 for Alpha-9's beta-emitting candidates.
Long-term supply of high-purity non-carrier-added Actinium-225 for the targeted alpha therapy programs.
The academic origin and ongoing scientific foundation - the ecosystem all three founders came from.
Bénard, Lin, and Perrin launch the company (as Alpha-9 Theranostics) to move radiopharmaceutical research into patients.
Early financing to advance a portfolio of radiotherapeutics and diagnostics.
An oversubscribed round funds a new manufacturing site and pipeline expansion.
Ac-225 and Lu-177 supply agreements land alongside an oversubscribed Series C to push candidates into human studies.
Paul Blanchfield appointed CEO as imaging and therapeutic candidates move through trials.
It is a clinical-stage biotech that designs bespoke radiopharmaceuticals - molecules that carry cancer-killing radioactive isotopes directly to tumors while sparing healthy tissue.
Founded in 2019 by François Bénard, Kuo-Shyan Lin, and David Perrin, researchers from the University of British Columbia and BC Cancer.
Roughly $258M in total, including an $11M Series A, a $75M Series B in 2022, and an oversubscribed $175M Series C in October 2024.
Disclosed candidates include the imaging agent A9-3202 and A9-3408, an Actinium-225-based targeted radiotherapeutic in Phase 1 development.
It runs a dual-hub operation - headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, with radiochemistry and manufacturing operations in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Video: Alpha-9 does not publish an official YouTube channel; search "Alpha-9 Oncology radiopharmaceuticals" on YouTube for interviews and radioligand-therapy explainers. Product demo videos were not publicly available at the time of writing.
Profile compiled from public sources including a9oncology.com, LinkedIn, BioSpace, FinSMEs, Precision Medicine Online, PR Newswire, UBC Faculty of Medicine, and the Boston Globe. Financial and pipeline figures are approximate and reflect publicly announced information.