Jamie Barrand | Oct 7, 2015

Cellectar receives National Cancer Institute grant

A clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, Cellectar Biosciences Inc., recently received initial notice of an award for a Phase I-II Fast-Track Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant issued for one of its cancer treatment drugs; the grant is for up to $2.3 million from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), which will be used to fund development of Cellectar's PDC platform for targeted delivery of I-125, a radiotherapeutic isotope that may be effective against micro-metastatic disease.

"The receipt of this SBIR grant further validates our PDC delivery platform's potential to improve the therapeutic index and product performance of known cytotoxic agents through targeted delivery," Jim Caruso, president and CEO of Cellectar Biosciences, said.

The SBIR grant will be awarded in two installments. The first installment of $300,000 will pay for preclinical work; the second phase will be used to study the safety, tolerability and optimal dosing.

"This award acknowledges Cellectar's unique expertise in radiobiology and PDC chemistry. The radiobiologic properties of I-125 suggest it will be particularly efficacious for treating micro-metastatic disease," Dr. Kevin Kozak, Cellectar's chief medical officer.

More information is available online at www.cellectar.com.

Organizations in this story