Radionetics Oncology Appoints Umesh Gangadharmath, Ph.D. as Senior Vice President, Technical Operations
- Radionetics adds expert in GMP radiopharmaceutical manufacturing as company expects to file three INDs in the next two years
- Company more than doubles employees to 20 within one year
Radionetics Oncology, a pharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of novel radiotherapeutics for the treatment of a wide range of oncology indications, announced today the appointment of Umesh Gangadharmath, Ph.D. as Senior Vice President, Technical Operations. Dr. Gangadharmath brings more than 16 years of experience in researching and developing novel radiopharmaceuticals. His breadth of expertise spans preclinical development —supporting chemistry, manufacturing, and controls (CMC) sections for investigational new drug (IND) submissions — and early clinical research through full clinical production, including the establishment of good manufacturing practice (GMP) radiopharmaceutical manufacturing sites globally to support clinical trials.
"We are very excited to welcome Dr. Gangadharmath, a respected leader in the field of radiopharmaceuticals, to our seasoned team at a time when his expertise will be key as we prepare to file three INDs in the next two years," said Nishan de Silva, M.D., Chief Executive Officer of Radionetics. "We are pursuing a different approach in an emerging therapeutic class that has the potential to upend current standards of care in oncology. The addition of Dr. Gangadharmath reflects our ability to bring together experts in the field that share our vision and passion to create effective new treatments for cancer patients that enable us to go beyond what's been done before."
"I am thrilled to join a passionate group of seasoned experts, working together on the forefront of a vast and largely unexplored class for radiopharmaceuticals," said Umesh Gangadharmath, Ph.D., Senior Vice President, Technical Operations of Radionetics. "Radionetics is moving multiple programs rapidly towards clinical development, and I look forward to applying my experience in the development of novel radiopharmaceutical treatments as we continue to break new ground."
During his career, Dr. Gangadharmath was integral in the establishment of radiopharmaceutical GMP manufacturing facilities globally. Most recently, Dr. Gangadharmath was the Chief Operating Officer at Optimal Tracers, a radiopharmaceutical-focused contract development and manufacturing company, where he successfully built the company from concept to a mature, fully functioning GMP radiopharmaceutical manufacturer. Dr. Gangadharmath and his team at Optimal Tracers were also involved in establishing a GMP compliant radiopharmaceutical manufacturing facility for clinical research at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center.
Dr. Gangadharmath previously served as a member of United States Pharmacopeia (USP) Radioactive Drugs Expert Panel. He also played a key role in developing a molecular imaging program at Loma Linda University Medical Center.
Dr. Gangadharmath received his M.Sc. and Ph.D. in inorganic chemistry from Karnatak University Dharwad, India, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at UCLA under the supervision of Dr. Hartmuth Kolb.
About Radionetics Oncology
Peptide-targeted radiotherapeutics have recently demonstrated important therapeutic benefit for the treatment of neuroendocrine tumors and advanced prostate cancer and are rapidly being integrated into the standard of care for these patients. Their increasing use is expected to drive infrastructure and deployment of additional radiotherapeutics. Radionetics Oncology, a pharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of novel radiotherapeutics for the treatment of a wide range of oncology indications, is poised to capitalize on the increasing demand for novel radiotherapeutics. The company's platform technology uses small molecule targeting to deliver therapeutic radioisotopes to a broad range of cancers by binding selectively to peptide receptors that are overexpressed on these tumors. This small molecule technology addresses many of the significant challenges currently facing peptide and protein targeted radiotherapeutics, particularly in the realm of optimizing drug-like characteristics and manufacturing. Spun out of Crinetics (NASDAQ:CRNX) in 2021 and financed by 5AM Ventures and Frazier Healthcare, Radionetics is advancing a pipeline that currently consists of multiple lead drug candidates to treat a broad range of cancers and is conducting additional drug discovery efforts to identify drug candidates for additional receptor targets. According to commercially available market research reports, the market for radiopharmaceuticals is expected to rise to $12.6 billion by 2027.
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