Garching-based ITM has announced one of the largest private investment rounds in European biotechnology to date. With the sum of 255 million euros, the company plans to advance its radiopharmaceutical pipeline and expand its radioisotope production capacities. Among the investors are the Strüngmann brothers.
Founded in 2004, ITM Isotope Technologies Munich SE, based in Garching near Munich, specializes in the development, production and worldwide supply of targeted diagnostic and therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals and radioisotopes for use in cancer treatment - including neuroendocrine tumors, glioblastoma, prostate cancer, ovarian cancer or NSCL adenocarcinoma, as well as osteosarcoma and bone metastases.
The announced EUR 255 million equity investment round, led by Temasek and with participation from BlackRock Alternatives1, Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), Nextech2 and Carbyne, will be used by ITM to further develop its oncology pipeline for targeted radionuclide therapies (TRT). For the first time involved are Thomas and Andreas Strüngmann and their company ATHOS. The brothers, founders of Hexal, a pharmaceutical company based in Holzkirchen, Germany, were involved in the founding of BioNTech as well and hold about half of the shares in the Mainz-based biotech company through the Athos Family Office.
"Securing one of the largest private biotechnology financing rounds ever in our home market from major, globally active investors with deep biotech experience underscores our presence at the forefront of the radiopharmaceutical space on an international scale," said Steffen Schuster, CEO of ITM.
ITM is in Phase III clinical trials with its lead pipeline candidate ITM-11 (n.c.a. 177Lu edotreotide) against gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (GEP-NETs). In addition, the company plans to expand its market-leading manufacturing capabilities and infrastructure for n.c.a. 177Lu, scale GMP production for 225Ac, and expand internal drug manufacturing capabilities to accelerate global access to radiopharmaceuticals.