Australian biopharmaceutical company Telix Pharmaceuticals Limited (ASX: TLX) (Nasdaq: TLX) announced on Tuesday that it is expanding its theranostic pipeline with new assets aimed at Fibroblast Activation Protein (FAP), a promising pan-cancer target in nuclear medicine.

The company's development programme will initially focus on the treatment of bladder cancer, rounding out its urology franchise which includes late-stage therapeutic programmes for kidney and prostate cancers.

Telix has entered into asset purchase and exclusive worldwide in-licence agreements for a suite of clinically validated FAP-targeting therapeutic and precision medicine (diagnostic) radiopharmaceutical candidates developed by Professor Frank Roesch and his collaborators at the Institute of Nuclear Chemistry at the Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Germany. The next-generation therapeutic assets are differentiated by a novel structure that drives extended tumour retention while minimising off-target uptake, potentially overcoming the limitations seen with first-generation compounds. The diagnostic and therapeutic compounds have been clinically validated in over 500 patients across a variety of solid tumours and are the subject of multiple peer-review publications.

Richard Valeix, Telix Therapeutics' CEO, said: "We are delighted to partner with Professor Roesch and his team on this exciting frontier of radiopharmaceuticals. Telix will gain access to assets that are already significantly de-risked, with clinically demonstrated safety profile and efficacy. We will develop these assets in bladder cancer as a primary indication, in line with our focus on urological cancers, and explore the potential of FAP as a pan-cancer target, adding significant value to our pipeline."