ITM AG announced today (April 23) the successful close of a convertible loan financing totaling €90 million (US$109 million) led by Petrichor Healthcare Capital Management with participation of additional undisclosed investors.

Michael Lee-Chin, chairman of NCB Group and Portland Holdings, is on the Board of ITM and is a champion of its oncology methods and techniques.

 The proceeds will support the expansion of ITM’s precision oncology pipeline as well as fund late-stage development and market access activities for lead candidate, n.c.a. ¹⁷⁷Lu-Edotreotide, currently in a phase III trial in gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (GEP-NETs).

Under the terms of the agreement, the loan will convert into shares of ITM in the event of certain future financial or other corporate development transactions. Further details of the financing were not disclosed.

“This funding represents our commitment to being at the forefront of demonstrating the therapeutic potential of Targeted Radionuclide Therapy and reflects our ambition to translate our leadership as a global radioisotope provider into developing innovative radiopharmaceuticals to meet the needs of patients with difficult-to-treat tumors,” said Steffen Schuster, chief executive officer of ITM.

“The investment from Petrichor and the syndicate recognises our clinical and corporate achievements to date and enables us to further leverage the full potential of nuclear medicine for cancer patients.” 

In conjunction with the financing, Tadd Wessel, founder and managing partner at Petrichor, will join ITM’s supervisory board. He brings more than 20 years of experience in the healthcare financing sector and was formerly a managing director at OrbiMed Advisors, where he led the build-out of the healthcare special situations and structured finance business.

Said Wessel: “ITM has established itself as a dominant global provider of therapeutic radioisotopes. We expect the company’s isotope business to benefit from tremendous growth of targeted radiotherapy in the years ahead, while serving as a platform for ITM’s deep pipeline of precision oncology Targeted Radionuclide Therapies and companion diagnostics.”

He added: “Targeted radiotherapy has demonstrated immense success to date, and we expect the drug class to continue to gain recognition as one of the most promising areas within precision oncology. We believe that ITM’s unparalleled expertise and technological capabilities are evidenced by their market leadership, and we look forward to supporting the team in their pursuit of better patient outcomes.”

ITM, founded in 2004, is a company built on longstanding experience in the production and supply of high-quality medical radioisotopes for cancer treatment and diagnosis with an established global supply network. The company has forward-integrated to develop Targeted Radionuclide Diagnostics and Therapies designed to provide medical benefit for difficult-to-treat cancer indications.