CNL’S CNRI-H Program Continues Strong Growth Thanks to New Projects With Repare Therapeutics and Defence Therapeutics

Canada’s national nuclear laboratories announces new projects with leading Canadian biopharmaceutical companies through collaborative research program

CHALK RIVER, Ontario, Jan. 20, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL), Canada’s premier nuclear science and technology organization, is pleased to announce that it is collaborating with two leading Canadian healthcare biotech companies – Repare Therapeutics and Defence Therapeutics – on individual research projects through its Canadian Nuclear Research Initiative – Health (CNRI-H) program. Launched in 2021, the CNRI-H program is designed to accelerate the development of targeted radiopharmaceuticals in Canada through joint research projects related to oncology, targeted alpha therapy, radiopharmaceuticals and medical isotope development.

Repare and CNL plan to leverage the strengths of both organizations which cut across radiobiology, preclinical evaluation, and the discovery of therapeutics that kill cancer cells by stopping the repair of DNA in cancer cells. This work will potentially generate more insight into repair mechanisms associated with radiation induced damage in DNA of cancer cells and hopefully lead to the development of therapeutics that can significantly enhance current radioligand therapies in cancer treatment for the benefit of Canadians and the world.

CNL’s project with Defence Therapeutics leverages the capabilities at CNL to advance Defence’s Accum^® Technology to deliver auger electron (AE) emitting isotopes as close to the nucleus as possible. Research has already shown that delivering AE-emitting isotopes to the nucleus can deliver significant damage to cancer cells. Successful deployment of this project’s delivery system could unlock the full potential of AEs in cancer treatment.

“On behalf of CNL, I want to express just how excited we are to enter into these new projects with two innovative Canadian companies that are working to help improve the lives of people who suffer from cancers and other diseases,” commented Jack Craig, CNL’s President and CEO. “CNL launched CNRI-H to provide radiopharmaceutical companies with better access to our technical knowledge and unique facilities so they could advance their innovative treatments and therapies. With these two exciting projects now underway, this program fills an unmet need within the radiopharmaceutical community, and we are excited for what the future holds with both Defence Therapeutics and Repare Therapeutics.”

“Collaborating with CNL in the CNRI-H program advances the potential for our DNA damage response-targeted therapeutics to enhance radiopharmaceutical efficacy,” said Stephen Morris, Vice President of Biology, Repare Therapeutics. “By leveraging the world-leading expertise of CNL, we aim to accelerate our mission of developing innovative medicines to provide meaningful benefit to cancer patients.”

“Defence Therapeutics’ mission is to develop targeted radiopharmaceutical therapies using our proprietary Accum^® platform,” commented Sébastien Plouffe, Defence Therapeutics’ Founder, President and CEO. “We are extremely proud and honored to collaborate with CNL as their strong expertise and knowhow will reinforce and accelerate the feasibility of our innovative treatment for future benefits of cancer patients. I would like to thank each of the CNL team members for their dedicated, collaborative and proactive approach to efficiently work together to advance our project. The CNRI-H program is well designed to accelerate radiopharmaceuticals companies like Defence Therapeutics to reach its ultimate goal to bring innovative therapies into the market.”

As Canada’s national nuclear laboratories, CNL maintains diverse capabilities in areas of health and dosimetry, including pre-clinical animal studies, isotope production and processing, in vitro drug evaluation, targeted radionuclide therapies, ISO-accredited analytical chemistry services and waste management solutions. CNL is also working to establish itself as an international hub in the research, development and supply of next-generation medical isotopes and radiopharmaceuticals, including Actinium-225, an extremely rare isotope that shows great promise as the basis for new, cutting-edge cancer therapies.

“As Canada’s national nuclear laboratories, CNL has been a pioneer in radiopharmaceutical research for decades, and we are making our technical expertise and unique capabilities available to accelerate the development of innovative solutions in the Radiopharmaceutical industry that benefit Canadians and the global community,” commented George Baidoo, CNL’s Technical Director of Health in Business Development. “Working towards that goal, these two projects represent great progress in the evolution of our CNRI-H program and are important milestones in bringing innovative new therapies and treatments to the marketplace.”

For more information on CNL’s CNRI-H program, please visit: www.cnl.ca/CNRI-H. For additional information on CNL and its activities in the health sector, please visit www.cnl.ca.

About CNL

As Canada’s premier nuclear science and technology laboratory and working under the direction of Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL), CNL is a world leader in the development of innovative nuclear science and technology products and services. Guided by an ambitious corporate strategy known as Vision 2030, CNL fulfills three strategic priorities of national importance – restoring and protecting the environment, advancing clean energy technologies, and contributing to the health of Canadians.

By leveraging the assets owned by AECL, CNL also serves as the nexus between government, the nuclear industry, the broader private sector and the academic community. CNL works in collaboration with these sectors to advance innovative Canadian products and services towards real-world use, including carbon-free energy, cancer treatments and other therapies, non-proliferation technologies and waste management solutions.

To learn more about CNL, please visit www.cnl.ca.

About Repare Therapeutics

Repare Therapeutics is a leading clinical-stage precision oncology company enabled by its proprietary synthetic lethality approach to the discovery and development of novel therapeutics. The Company utilizes its genome-wide, CRISPR-enabled SNIPRx® platform to systematically discover and develop highly targeted cancer therapies focused on genomic instability, including DNA damage repair. The Company’s pipeline includes lunresertib (also known as RP-6306), a PKMYT1 inhibitor currently in Phase 1/2 clinical development; camonsertib (also known as RP-3500), a potential leading ATR inhibitor currently in Phase 1/2 clinical development; RP-1664, a Phase 1 PLK4 inhibitor; RP-3467, a Phase 1 Polθ ATPase inhibitor; as well as additional, undisclosed preclinical programs. For more information, please visit reparerx.com and follow @Reparerx on X (formerly Twitter) and LinkedIn.

About Defence Therapeutics

Defence Therapeutics is a publicly-traded clinical-stage biotechnology company developing and engineering the next generation of radio-immuno-conjugate and ADC products using its proprietary platform in addition to novel immune-oncology vaccines. The core of Defence Therapeutics platform is the Accum^® technology, which enables precision delivery of radio-immuno-conjugates or ADCs in their intact form to target cells, and vaccine antigens. As a result, increased efficacy and potency can be reached against catastrophic illness such as cancer and infectious diseases.

CNL Contact:
Philip Kompass
Director, Corporate Communications
1-866-886-2325
media@cnl.ca

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/810fe470-582e-48e8-ab49-ad005f52f8f1