GT Medical Technologies, a medical device company headquartered in Tempe, has acquired the brachytherapy business from Seattle-based Perspective Therapeutics Inc. (NYSE: CATX).
Brachytherapy is a cancer treatment in which radioactive materials are placed inside the body.
Perspective disclosed the sale of its Isoray unit in an April regulatory filing. As part of the deal, Perspective gained a 0.5% stake in GT and over a four-year period will receive certain royalties, which range from 0.5% to 5% depending on the product and the total sales of Isoray's technology in brachytherapy, a cancer treatment in which radioactive materials are placed inside the body.
GT, founded in 2017, makes a small tile that brain surgeons can place in an incision site after removing a brain tumor. The tiles deliver targeted radiation after surgery with the aim of preventing brain tumor recurrence. According to GT, the tiles limit radiation exposure to healthy tissue and allow patients to receive treatment while going about their daily lives.
The Tempe company brought in one of Arizona's largest funding rounds of 2023, bringing in $45 million to expand its technology to treat patients with operable brain tumors. Earlier this year, the company brought in a new CEO from California after the company's founder retired.
Brachytherapy treatments are also called internal radiation and are less common than external radiation, according to the Mayo Clinic. Perspective is selling customer and supplier lists, production line equipment and intellectual property associated with the brachytherapy business, as well as computer equipment and software. Perspective is also handing over its brachytherapy facility lease in Richland, Washington.
"The sale of our brachytherapy business marks a key strategic reprioritization that allows us to focus on and dedicate resources towards accelerating the clinical development of our proprietary alpha-particle therapy portfolio," Perspective CEO Thijs Spoor said in an announcement when the company first announced the divestiture in December.
Isoray in February 2023 merged with Iowa-based Viewpoint Molecular Targeting, which was developing cancer treatments and imaging tools. The day after the merger closed, the new company rebranded to Perspective Therapeutics. Spoor, the CEO of Viewpoint, took over as CEO of Perspective, while outgoing Isoray CEO Lori Woods became the board chair. Spoor is also a member of the board.
Perspective now focuses on therapies that deliver radiation specifically to cancer cells, as well as imaging diagnostics the company says can minimize toxicity and improve efficacy. Its programs aimed at melanoma and neuroendocrine cancer are in clinical trials.
Perspective raised $87.4 million through a private placement, or when a publicly traded company raises capital by selling shares directly to specific investors instead of to the public, in March. The funding added to $89.8 million Perspective raised in January through both an underwritten public offering and a private placement.
In March, Perspective also acquired an 11,500-square-foot manufacturing facility in Somerset, New Jersey, from radiopharmaceutical company Lantheus Holdings Inc. The facility will help the company meet clinical trial and commercial demand at cancer centers throughout the Northeast.
Greg Barr of Phoenix Business Journal contributed to this article.
