radioligand-therapy
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Novartis Cut Away an Empire to Bet on Five Ways of Making Medicine
The Swiss giant spent years shedding businesses until only innovative medicines remained. Now its growth depends on turning five scientific platforms into treatments that health systems will pay for - and patients can actually reach.
Actithera
Actithera is a radiopharmaceutical biotech developing next-generation radioligand therapies (RLTs) for cancer. Founded in 2021 by medicinal chemist Andreas Goutopoulos and based in Cambridge, Massachusetts and Oslo, Norway, the company uses a proprietary, chemistry-led platform to design covalent small-molecule radioligands that lodge inside tumors, deliver targeted radiation, and clear quickly from healthy tissue. Its isotope-agnostic approach is engineered to match the residence time of a drug in a tumor to the half-life of long-lived radionuclides, with a lead program targeting Fibroblast Activation Protein (FAP). Actithera raised an oversubscribed $75.5M Series A in July 2025.
Alpha-9 Oncology
Alpha-9 Oncology is a clinical-stage radiopharmaceutical company engineering bespoke, tumor-targeting molecules that deliver alpha- and beta-emitting isotopes directly to cancer cells while sparing healthy tissue. Spun out of the University of British Columbia and BC Cancer in 2019 and now headquartered in Boston with research operations in Vancouver, the company iteratively optimizes each part of a radiopharmaceutical - binder, linker, chelator and radioisotope - to build a pipeline of paired imaging and therapy candidates. Backed by $258M in total funding, including a $175M Series C in 2024, Alpha-9 aims to expand precision radiotherapy across validated oncology targets.
Convergent Therapeutics, Inc.
Convergent Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biotechnology company in Cambridge, Massachusetts developing next-generation targeted radiotherapies for cancer. Its lead candidate, CONV01-α, is a PSMA-targeted monoclonal antibody linked to the alpha-emitting radioisotope actinium-225, designed to deliver tumor-killing radiation to metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer while sparing healthy tissue. The technology, pioneered in the lab of PSMA-targeting pioneer Dr. Neil Bander and licensed from Cornell University, is led by oncologist Dr. Philip Kantoff.
AdvanCell
AdvanCell is a vertically integrated, clinical-stage radiopharmaceutical company developing a pipeline of targeted alpha therapies (TAT) for cancer, powered by its proprietary Lead-212 (212Pb) alpha isotope generator technology. By solving the chronic supply bottleneck of alpha-emitting isotopes, AdvanCell aims to deliver highly potent, tumor-specific radiation that destroys cancer cells while sparing healthy tissue. Its lead asset, ADVC001, a 212Pb-PSMA therapy, is in clinical trials for metastatic prostate cancer, with a deepening pipeline targeting melanoma, ovarian, breast, and lung cancers.
Ratio Therapeutics
Ratio Therapeutics is a Boston-based clinical-stage biotech engineering next-generation targeted radiopharmaceuticals for solid tumors. Its proprietary Trillium and Macropa platforms tune how radioactive cancer-killing payloads travel through the body, aiming to deliver a lethal dose to tumors while sparing healthy tissue. Backed by major pharma partners including Novartis, Bayer, Lantheus and Bristol Myers Squibb, Ratio is advancing FAP- and SSTR2-targeted programs from imaging into therapy.