Canada’s ARTMS, a leader in developing technology that transforms the production of the world's most-used diagnostic imaging isotopes, on 20 May announced that it has raised $19 million in a Series A financing.
The investment was led by New York based Deerfield Management Company with continued investment from Vancouver based seed investor GHS Fund (Quark Venture LP and GF Securities).
"This funding gives us the financial flexibility to leverage our QUANTM Irradiation SystemTM (QISTM) technology and partner with customers to revolutionize the nuclear medicine industry by enabling global access to cyclotron-produced medical isotopes," said ARTMS CEOCharles S Conroy.
ARTMS said its QUANTM Irradiation SystemTM (QISTM) enables cost-effective, decentralised, and local production of important medical isotopes including gallium-68 (Ga-68), zirconium-89 (Zr-89), technetium-99m (Tc-99m) and copper-64 (Cu-64). The technology utilises locally-based medical cyclotrons, empowering the user to control their supply chain and produce high volumes of innovative high-quality radiopharmaceutical products.
In 2019 ARTMS, demonstrated a world record Ga-68 production from a single, short-duration irradiation of QUANTM Zn-68 target plates. A single 90-minute run produced as much isotope as 200 commercially available generators. ARTMS has already proven the concept and clinical application for routine and high-yield production of Tc-99m.
ARTMS will use the financing to continue to collaborate with industry partners with the aim of developing cyclotron produced Ga-68 and to expand the commercialisation of the QISTM for the production of additional critical medical isotopes.
In 2020, ARTMS announced partnerships with ImaginAb, to explore a novel radiochemistry manufacture of ImaginAb's lead asset 89Zr CD8 ImmunoPET, and Telix Pharmaceuticals to develop proof of concept to manufacture TLX591-CDx – a Prostate Cancer Diagnostic. Ga-68 produced using the QISTM system will be used for the radio-labelling of TLX591-CDx.
