MTTI wins $3.2M NCI grant to develop lung cancer radiopharmaceutical
What's the deal? Molecular Targeting Technologies (MTTI)Dealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, a clinical-stage radiopharmaceutical company, has been awarded a $3.17 million, five-year grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI)Dealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →. The funding will advance ¹⁷⁷Lu-EBRGD, an investigational drug targeting integrin αvβ3 for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
Why it stands out: The award ranks in the top 20% of grants and rounds by size, placing it 36.3 points above the median. It falls under NIH grant R01CA299133.
What's the endgame? The grant funds an integrated program spanning preclinical research, drug manufacturing under cGMP requirements, regulatory work toward a potential Investigational New Drug application, and clinical study planning. The goal is to prepare ¹⁷⁷Lu-EBRGD for trials in patients with metastatic NSCLC after first-line systemic therapy.
The science: ¹⁷⁷Lu-EBRGD builds on MTTI's EvaThera platform, which uses Evans Blue-based reversible albumin binding to modify how targeted molecules circulate and distribute in tissue. Published preclinical studies, including NSCLC patient-derived xenograft models, reported enhanced tumour accumulation and tumour-growth inhibition versus non-albumin-binding comparators.
What could go wrong? Preclinical findings do not establish safety or efficacy in patients. MTTI cautioned that the therapeutic potential "remains to be evaluated in appropriately designed clinical studies," and clinical work depends on regulatory authorisation.
The bigger pipeline: MTTI is advancing EvaThera across multiple oncology programs. Its lead clinical candidate, ¹⁷⁷Lu-EBTATE, targets somatostatin receptor 2 for neuroendocrine tumours, while planned projects EB-FAPI and EB-GRPR extend into other targets. The company is also exploring both lutetium-177 and actinium-225 within the platform.
The signal: Federal backing for targeted radiopharmaceuticals reflects growing interest in precision oncology therapies that pair tumour-targeting molecules with radioactive payloads. For a clinical-stage firm, non-dilutive grant funding provides runway to move a candidate toward the clinic without raising equity.
Image credit: National Institutes of Health (NIH)
