King's College London spin-out company Nuclide Therapeutics (NTx) has successfully closed a £5 million investment round to advance the detection and treatment of therapy-resistant cancers. The milestone-based investment from German company Marathon Beteiligungs AG will support the advancement of a new generation of cancer care radiotheranostics for patients who have exhausted standard treatment options.
ALDH1A1-Targeted Radiotheranostic Platform
The funding will support the continued development of NTx's proprietary product family of ALDH1A1-targeted radiotheranostics, which are radioactive drugs designed to identify and eliminate cancer cells that have evaded conventional therapies. This approach represents a novel strategy for addressing one of oncology's most challenging problems: therapy-resistant cancer cells.
"The launch of Nuclide Therapeutics marks a bold step forward in our mission to give therapy-resistant cancer patients an effective treatment option," said Muhammet Tanc PhD, Nuclide Therapeutics Co-founder and CEO. "Closing our funding round with the support of Marathon Beteiligungs AG gives us not just capital, but a true partner who shares our vision. Together, we are building a company focused on scientific excellence, translational impact, and improving the lives of patients who need it most."
Promising Preclinical Data and Clinical Development Plans
With a pipeline already demonstrating exceptional preclinical data in lung and ovarian cancers, the investment will enable NTx to progress its lead candidates into first-in-human trials. The funding will also support expansion into additional indications and accelerate the development of other assets in the company's discovery pipeline.
Before spinning out, the Nuclide Therapeutics founding team were based at Witney Lab in the School of Biomedical Engineering & Imaging Sciences at King's College London.
Strategic Partnership with Radiopharmaceutical Specialist
Marathon Beteiligungs AG is a German investment company that invests in promising teams and ideas in the field of radiopharmaceuticals. The company supports visionary, high-quality projects that align with the experience of the group, which has been active in radiopharmaceuticals for decades.
Professor Sebastien Ourselin FREng FMedSci, Head of the School of Biomedical Engineering & Imaging Sciences, emphasized the significance of this development: "Nuclide Therapeutics reflects the growing entrepreneurial spirit we are cultivating at King's, where bold ideas, deep science and translational ambition are supported every step of the way. This spin-out is a prime example of how King's innovation ecosystem is empowering researchers to turn discoveries into real-world impact. Backed by Marathon Beteiligungs AG's investment, the team is now positioned to enter clinical development and scale a novel radiotheranostic platform aimed at some of the most challenging cancers."
Dr Nicolas Huber, Interim Director of King's Innovation Catalyst, added: "We are very excited by the significant funding secured by our spin-out, Nuclide Therapeutics. This is a strong vote of confidence in King's depth of scientific expertise in radiopharmaceuticals, and our integrated translational ecosystem. We are proud of the contribution King's Innovation Catalyst (IP&L) has made towards the journey of this world class team, and we are looking forward to NTx progressing their lead candidates for untreatable tumours, with significant potential impact for the lives of cancer patients world-wide."
