ITM, a radiopharmaceutical drug developer headquartered in Germany, has announced raising €188 million (about $208 million) in equity investment led by Singapore state investor Temasek.
The investment was also backed by global private equity (PE) major BlackRock, sovereign wealth fund Qatar Investment Authority, single-family office ATHOS, and European PE firm Carbyne Equity Partners, according to the announcement.
The same group of investors invested €255 million in ITM in 2023.
Led by CEO Steffen Schuster, ITM is a radiopharmaceutical biotech company that seeks to provide a new generation of radiomolecular precision therapeutics and diagnostics for hard-to-treat tumors.
ITM, which is short for Isotope Technologies Munich, said it will use the money to fund the development of its targeted radiation therapies for cancer, among others.
The company is also preparing the potential market launch of its phase III lead candidate, ITM-11, a radiopharmaceutical drug for gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors, a type of gastrointestinal cancer.
Apart from ITM-11, the company is also investigating the use of its radiotherapeutic ITM-31 as a potential treatment for glioblastoma.
“This financing furthers our position as a driver and partner for the radiopharmaceutical industry by supporting commercial readiness efforts for ITM-11 and the expansion of our pipeline,” said Udo J. Vetter, chairman of the Supervisory Board at ITM.
Radiopharmaceutical therapy (RPT) is an emerging class of cancer therapeutics that seeks to deliver radiation directly to the tumor while minimising radiation exposure to normal tissue.
The precise localisation enables targeted treatment with potentially minimal impact on healthy surrounding tissue.
Temasek, the lead investor, has a net portfolio value of about $287 billion as of March 31, 2022. The Singapore state investor, which has 13 offices in nine countries, invests in companies that deliver sustainable returns over the long term.