Curium acquires Abscint to expand its PET radiodiagnostic pipeline
What's the deal? Curium PharmaDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, a global radiopharmaceutical company headquartered in Boston, has acquired Belgian clinical-stage firm Abscint SADealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →. The transaction gives Curium global rights to develop, manufacture, and commercialize ABS-011, an investigational PET tracer for cancer imaging.
What does ABS-011 do? The gallium-68-labeled tracer targets HER2, a biological target in several cancers, including breast and gastric cancers. It uses a radiolabeled single-domain antibody that binds HER2 quickly while unbound tracer clears from the bloodstream, enabling same-day, whole-body PET imaging across multiple lesions.
That approach could reveal spatial variation a single-lesion biopsy might miss, helping clinicians pick a more informative lesion to sample.
Where it stands: ABS-011 is being evaluated in the HERMIA trial, a multicenter Phase 2b study in Belgium. It has not been approved by any regulatory authority, and its safety and efficacy have not been established.
What's the endgame? Curium plans to apply its development, manufacturing, and commercialization experience to move the asset toward regulatory approval. The deal strengthens its oncology pipeline and radiodiagnostic capabilities.
"This acquisition adds a promising diagnostic asset to Curium's oncology pipeline," said Chait Tatineni, chief executive officer of Curium Biopharma. Abscint chief executive officer Karine ClauwaertDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → said Curium's "scale, expertise and long-standing focus on nuclear medicine" position it to support the program's next phase.
The signal: Curium operates in more than 70 countries, with over 3,800 employees, more than 80 manufacturing sites, and a portfolio of over 45 products. Bolting on an early-stage HER2 imaging asset reflects the industry push to pair precision diagnostics with targeted cancer therapies.
Read more: Associated Press
Image credit: National Institutes of Health (NIH)
