RDC Concrete (India)

Pharma 101 Regeneron, one of the most disciplined capital allocators has entered into radiopharmacy through a collaboration with the Australian biotech Telix Pharmaceuticals where the deal value was 4.3 Billion USD. Regeneron had 2 consecutive blockbusters in the last decade, ie, dupixent and eylea. When such a company forays into a new space, it's something to watch out for. Telix is good at radiopharmaceuticals while Regeneron has the antibody discovery engine. Better antibodies find the cancer cell more precisely. Better isotopes kill it more effectively. But what is Radiopharmaceuticals? A radiopharmaceutical has three parts. 1. A targeting molecule: an antibody or peptide, that seeks out a specific protein on the cancer cell surface. 2. A chelator: a chemical cage that holds the radioactive isotope in place. 3. The isotope: Lutetium-177 for beta emission, Actinium-225 for alpha emission. Think of it like this, the Antibody is like the GPS that finds out a particular location and the Chelator is the Uber and the Isotope is the Passenger. The difference between beta and alpha emitters matters enormously. Bristol Myers Squibb acquired RayzeBio specifically for its Actinium-225 platform, an alpha emitter that delivers radiation over a shorter range but with far greater cell-killing power than Lutetium-177. The field is gradually moving from beta to alpha. The challenge here is the Chelator. You have to keep the Isotope attached to the Antibody long enough so that it reaches the tumour cells, so the radiation is released at the precise location. A little early and the wrong place, then it irradiates healthy tissues. Telix's RADmAb platform is designed to solve this. Every major Big Pharma is leaping into this space through acquisitions since 2023. In India, we have the BARC(Bhabha Atomic Research Center). BARC produces Lutetium-177 for cancer management across Indian hospitals. This meets nearly 65% of the National demand. India has the isotope. It does not have the antibody platform, the chelation chemistry, or the clinical development infrastructure to compete in the commercial radiopharmaceutical space. #Pharma #RadioPharma #BARC #Markets #EquityResearch #Finance #LearningMachine #Curiosity #12WeekYear