A research team led by Prof. Angela Casini (Chair of Medicinal and Bioinorganic Chemistry) filed two patents in 2025 for novel radioactive compounds designed for precise imaging and treatment of cancer. The first invention in collaboration with Prof. Shigeyoshi Inoue (Chair of Silicon Chemistry) reports on the use of a novel Silicon-Fluoride acceptor for ¹⁸F PET imaging. The second invention features a peptide-based radiotracer that specifically targets the CXCR4 chemokine receptor — a highly promising molecular target for diagnosing and treating various cancers and inflammatory diseases.

The new tracer was developed for the accurate diagnosis of CXCR4-expressing lesions and their subsequent treatment. It can be labeled with different radioisotopes and exhibits exceptionally high affinity for CXCR4. This enables clinicians to use the same compound first for precise disease staging via PET imaging and then to deliver a targeted therapeutic radiation dose directly to the tumor or metastatic sites.

Compared to the current standard, [⁶⁸Ga]Ga-Pentixafor, whose diagnostic precision is limited by suboptimal target-to-background ratios (TBR of approx. 2–3), the new ligand demonstrates a 4- to 10-fold higher binding affinity to CXCR4. This results in significantly improved TBRs, allowing reliable visualization even of tumors with low CXCR4 expression.

In collaboration with Prof. Constantin Lapa at the Department of Nuclear Medicine of the University Hospital Augsburg, the new tracer has already been successfully tested in 13 cancer patients for diagnostic purposes - with excellent results compared to established compounds in clinical practice and ongoing trials. Thanks to its versatile structure, the ligand can also form stable complexes with therapeutic isotopes such as ¹⁷⁷Lu and ⁹⁰Y, paving the way for highly targeted, personalized therapies.

The invention has already attracted interest from pharmaceutical companies exploring potential acquisition. An informational flyer about the innovation has been prepared by BayPAT, providing an overview of the technology and its potential. This development marks an important step toward a new generation of theranostic radiopharmaceuticals.

Further Information and Links

• BayPAT informational flyer
• Prof. Angela Casini, Chair of Medicinal and Bioinorganic Chemistry
• Prof. Shigeyoshi Inoue, Chair of Silicon Chemistry
• Universitätsklinikum Augsburg, Klinik für Nuklearmedizin

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