Radiopharmaceutical innovation
Oncurie’s novel chelators pioneer new regions of the periodic table as radioisotopes for the treatment of cancer.
Novel technology to support the next generation of radiopharmaceuticals.
Ovarian Cancer Theranostics
Ovarian cancer is diagnosed in over 20,000 women in the United States each year according to the National Cancer Institute.
Oncurie has developed a novel compound capable of delivering radioisotopes to ovarian cancer cells in vitro and in vivo. Preclinical studies are on-going in collaboration with Suzanne Lapi, PhD of the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
News
April 2024
Oncurie publishes its work on an ovarian cancer theranostic compound in Molecular Pharmaceutics in collaboration with Suzanne Lapi, PhD of the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
January 2022
Oncurie awarded an NSF Phase I STTR to support initial work on novel radiopharmaceutical compounds ($275,000)
November 2021
Oncurie issued a Small Business Research Loan from the North Carolina Biotechnology Center ($250,000)
March 2024
Hailey Houson, PhD of the University of Alabama at Birmingham leads a platform presentation at ACS Spring 2024 (New Orleans) describing the Oncurie-UAB collaboration on a novel compound for the treatment of ovarian cancer: “Customizable porphyrin platform enables folate receptor PET imaging using copper-64”
November 2024
Oncurie announces two board appointments, naming Directors David Eve and Richard Di Marchi, PhD to the corporate board.
August 2024
Oncurie receives a Phase I STTR grant award (R41CA291316-01) in collaboration with Dr. Lapi at UAB, supporting continued work on developing the diagnostic imaging components of a theranostic pair against ovarian cancer.
“Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.”
— Marie Curie
Oncurie’s Team
Oncurie has assembled a team of accomplished chemists, innovators, and product developers, including deep radiopharmaceutical development experience.
Jonathan Lindsey, PhD - President and Founder
Dr. Lindsey serves as the Glaxo Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at NC State University. He is a world-wide leader in porphyrin chemistry and a prolific inventor. His laboratory developed the radionuclide carrier used in Oncurie’s lead compound for ovarian cancer diagnosis and he remains involved in the company’s corporate development. Dr. Lindsey is the founder of multiple start-up companies, including NIRvana Sciences.
Suzanne Lapi, PhD – Scientific Advisor Board Chair and Research Collaborator
Dr. Lapi leads the radiopharmaceutical laboratory at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She manages the university’s cyclotron and her own federally funded laboratory where she collaborates has a long track record of collaborating with radiopharmaceutical companies to evaluate compounds in vitro, in vivo, and in the clinic. She has participated in a number of pre-IND meetings, guiding products to IND status and subsequent clinical testing.
Nick Trotta, PhD - Chief Operations Officer
Dr. Trotta has extensive experience in non-dilutive fund-raising for early-stage startup companies. Past roles include product development, project management, and technical marketing at companies including Cell Microsystems, Inc. and Advanced Liquid Logic, Inc. (acquired by Illumina). Dr. Trotta is an experienced business and product developer who oversees day-to-day operations at Oncurie.
David Eve – Board Member
Mr. Eve has extensive experience in radiopharmaceuticals, with a particular focus on radionuclide supply chains, manufacturing and product distribution. He will work with Dr. Trotta in product development efforts, as well as providing guidance regarding fundraising and isotope supply. His current company, Ionetix, has raised over $30 million to date from various types of investors. Mr. Eve will also provide Oncurie guidance regarding GMP manufacturing of radiopharmaceuticals.
Zhiyuan Wu, PhD - Senior Chemist
Dr. Wu performed is an expert in porphyrin synthesis. He holds his PhD in Chemistry from NC State University, having received his training with Dr. Lindsey. He has led all compound synthesis and iteration efforts to date, developing critical IP and trade secrets for folate and porphyrin chemistry.
Richard Di Marchi, PhD – Board Member
Dr. Di Marchi serves as the Distinguished Professor Linda and Jack Gill Chair in Biomolecular Science at the University of Indiana Department of Chemistry. Dr. Di Marchi is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and the National Inventors Hall of Fame. He is a former Group Vice President at Eli Lilly and later at Novo Nordisk. He is recognized for his contributions to the discovery and development of rDNA-derived Humalog®, rGlucagon®, and Forteo®. His academic research has broadened the understanding of glucagon physiology and the discovery of single molecule multimode agonists for the treatment of diabetes and obesity. He is a former decade-long chairman of the Peptide Therapeutics Foundation and is widely recognized as an international spokesperson for macromolecular medicines. Professor Di Marchi is co-inventor on more than one hundred U.S. patents and co-author to more than two hundred and fifty peer-reviewed scientific publications. He was identified as a top-five translational researcher by Nature Biotechnology for the years 2014 and 2015. Since 2003, he has co-founded six successful biotech companies (Ambrx, Marcadia, Calibrium, MB2, Assembly, MBX). In the last decade Professor Di Marchi has received the 2011 Merrifield Award for career contributions in peptide sciences, the 2014 German National Erwin Schrödinger-Preis, the 2015 Meienhofer Prize, the 2015 Max Bergmann Medal, and the 2016 ACS Alfred Burger career award in medicinal chemistry.
