goetzpartners advised ITM Isotopen Technologien München AG (ITM), a biotechnology and radiopharmaceutical group of companies on a technology license agreement with Chengdu Gaotong Isotope Co., Ltd. a subsidiary of China Isotope & Radiation Corporation (CIRC), a nuclear technology application products manufacturer and supplier. The agreement is in relation to the production and distribution of Germanium-68/Gallium-68 Generators and no-carrier-added (n.c.a) Lutetium-177 (EndolucinBeta®) in China.
ITM and CIRC have already been working together in a successful partnership for almost 10 years in which CIRC has distributed ITM‘s medical radioisotopes, generators, and equipment to the Chinese market. China's radiopharmaceutical market is now growing rapidly in line with the fast expanding clinical evidence and use of Targeted Radionuclide Therapies worldwide. In order to meet the rising demand for Targeted Radionuclide Therapy in China, ITM and CIRC have decided to enter into a technology license agreement. Under the terms of the agreement, CIRC’s subsidiary Gaotong will implement the production of 68Ge/68Ga Generators and n.c.a. Lutetium-177 (EndolucinBeta®), in China for the Chinese market, as well as joining ITM’s global network of OEM suppliers in support of ITM’s international framework agreements with strategic partners. With this new partnership, CIRC is now the fourth partner to join the global ITM OEM Processing and Production Network.
“ITM has developed a strong presence in the Chinese market through CIRC as our distribution partner, supplying 68Ge/68Ga Generators and no-carrier-added Lutetium-177 since 2010”, said Steffen Schuster, CEO of ITM. “Now we are excited to take our established partnership to the next level. This agreement with CIRC allows us to share our manufacturing expertise in producing high-quality theranostic radioisotopes with a reliable partner who is able to implement and set highest quality standards in China. This gives us the opportunity to provide locally manufactured radioisotopes for Chinese cancer patients and also for cancer patients worldwide via our OEM Network. Through this expanded relationship with CIRC and Gaotong, we are looking forward to making Targeted Radionuclide Therapy available to a growing number of cancer patients and to jointly improving patients’ outcomes and quality of life.”
Mr. Wu Jian, General Manager of CIRC added: “We can look back on a long-standing and reliable relationship with ITM through which we have been able to offer the best next-generation medical isotope products available to the emerging Chinese radiopharmaceutical market from the very beginning. With this important agreement, we are taking the next step in serving Chinese cancer patients through China’s nuclear medicine practitioners in a better and timely manner and deepening our relationship with ITM at the same time. We believe that on the basis of our decades of experiences in radionuclides and radiopharmaceutical research and production, by manufacturing radioisotopes according to the unique methodologies developed by ITM and internationally accepted quality standards, particularly the theranostic pair Gallium-68 and the unrivaled no-carrier-added Lutetium-177, we will be able to supply high quality products to help many cancer patients in China and provide an economically sustainable solution for the Chinese Health Care System.“
goetzpartners Corporate Finance acted as exclusive advisor to ITM, further underlining our competence as advisor of choice in the healthcare industry and in cross-border transactions. Additional terms of the agreement are not disclosed.