DURHAM, N.C. and WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah, June 19, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — dGenThera, Inc., a biotechnology company pioneering theranostic molecular pairs, and Nusano, a physics company transforming the production of radioisotopes, today announced the signing of a letter of intent to provide dGenThera with access to high‑purity astatine‑211 (At‑211), a best‑in‑class alpha‑emitting isotope for cancer therapy.
Nusano will supply dGenThera with At-211 in quantities sufficient to enable the company’s ongoing preclinical studies, first‑in‑human trials, and subsequent clinical development. The agreement supports dGenThera’s goal of rapidly advancing its proprietary pipeline of targeted alpha therapies (TATs).
Astatine‑211: a uniquely advantageous alpha emitter
Astatine‑211 is increasingly recognized as the alpha emitter of choice for targeted radiotherapeutics. Its pure alpha emission results in high‑energy, short‑range cytotoxicity that selectively destroys cancer cells while minimizing damage to surrounding healthy tissue. Unlike the chelated metal alpha emitters actinium-225 (Ac-225) and lead-212 (Pb-212), At‑211 has no problematic daughter isotopes that can detach and release payloads into healthy tissue and its 7.2-hour half-life provides an ideal window for systemic delivery and tumor targeting. Moreover, compared to metal emitter chelates, small molecules with covalently-attached At-211 are much more amenable to crossing the blood-brain barrier and targeting both primary brain cancers and brain metastases. These attributes make At‑211 ideally suited for precision oncology applications—a strategic fit with dGenThera’s molecular designs.
“We believe that At‑211 will be the foundation of the next generation of targeted alpha therapies,” said Louis Metzger, Co-founder and CEO of dGenThera. “Its therapeutic profile is unmatched—combining precision, potency, and safety. By working with Nusano, we are securing the isotope quantities needed not only to advance our near‑term preclinical experiments and mid-term clinical trials, but to also plan ahead for commercialization. We are excited to work with Nusano, whose technology is helping unlock At‑211’s full potential for patients and building ‘targeted radiotherapy 2.0.’”
Complementary technologies driving clinical progress
Historically, the widespread use of At‑211 in oncology has been limited by insufficient production capacity. Nusano’s breakthrough accelerator technology removes that limitation, opening the door to high volume, reliable At-211 production.
Nusano’s state-of-the-art radioisotope production facility in the Salt Lake City region of Utah will operate an alpha beam with a current 10-times greater than all the world’s comparable systems combined. Capable of daily production runs, this single Nusano facility could produce a 100-times increase in the world’s total At-211 supply – enabling At-211 distribution across the United States and additional geographies.
“Nusano is working to provide drugmakers and innovators with the stable, scalable isotope supplies needed for next-generation, cancer-fighting radiotherapeutics,” said Chris Lowe, CEO of Nusano. “This agreement reflects our commitment to expanding access to At-211 and enabling the entire field of targeted alpha therapy. We are excited to work with dGenThera to help bring their innovative theranostic molecules to the clinic, and stand ready to support them from the earliest clinical stages through commercial product availability.”
Exquisitely matched theranostic pairs for precision targeted radiotherapies
dGenThera is advancing a differentiated platform of theranostic molecular pairs, designed to enable true image-guided targeted radiotherapy. Each therapeutic molecule is nearly identical to its corresponding PET imaging agent, differing only in the isotope label—At‑211 or iodine-131 (I-131) replacing iodine-127 (I-127) for therapy and fluorine-18 for imaging. This close chemical matching eliminates the need for chelated metal emitters, which can introduce stability, pharmacokinetic, and safety concerns.
“Our vision is to enable At‑211‑based alpha therapy anywhere that F‑18 PET is performed,” said Anthony Casarez, Ph.D., Co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of dGenThera. “By engineering exquisitely matched theranostic pairs with stably bonded At-211, we can seamlessly integrate targeted alpha therapies into existing nuclear medicine workflows. This approach dramatically accelerates clinical development, simplifies regulatory pathways, and ensures that the diagnostic and therapeutic forms of our molecules behave nearly identically in the body (faithful reporting)—de‑risking clinical translation and enabling true precision medicine.”
About dGenThera
dGenThera is a Durham, N.C.‑based pharmaceutical company developing exquisitely matched theranostic molecular pairs. Unlike approaches based on chelated metal emitters, dGenThera’s proprietary chemistry leverages optimized covalent bonds to incorporate therapeutic emitters At‑211 and I-131, and pair them with matched molecules incorporating diagnostic emitter F‑18 to make sets of chemically near-identical therapeutic and imaging agents. This facilitates transition from image‑guided patient selection to therapeutic dosing, simplifies clinical development, and improves the safety, stability, and targeting properties of radiotherapeutics.
dGenThera’s proprietary F-18 installation technology, developed with co-founders David Nicewicz (CTO) and Zibo Li (COO) at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, accelerates PET diagnostic (and thus theranostic pair) design. dGenThera’s carbon-halogen bond stabilization technology reduces the risk of de-halogenation in vivo, which hitherto limited the use of halogen emitters such as At-211 and I-131 in targeted radiotherapeutics.
dGenThera is advancing a pipeline of theranostic pairs across multiple high‑unmet‑need cancer indications.
About Nusano
Nusano is a privately held physics company committed to: bringing supply stability and innovation to the rapidly emerging and critically undersupplied medical radioisotopes market, serving industrial and commercial markets dependent on reliable access to high quality radioisotopes for their products and services, and enabling next-generation energy solutions. Nusano’s breakthrough technologies are poised to help supply the fight against cancer and enable innovation across multiple industries. For more, please visit nusano.com.
Media Contacts:
dGenThera
- Media and Investor Relations: Louis Metzger, dGenThera, louis@dgenthera.com
Nusano
- Media: Scott Larrivee, Nusano, 608-345-6629, scott.larrivee@nusano.com
- Investor Relations: Joyce Allaire, LifeSci Advisors, LLC, 212-915-2569, jallaire@lifesciadvisors.com
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