Bicycle Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BCYC), developer of a novel class of bicyclic peptide-based medicines, has secured a 15-year contract with the UK Nuclear Decommissioning Authority granting access to up to 400 tonnes of reprocessed uranium (RepU)—a resource the company says will underpin long-term production of lead-212 (212Pb) for its emerging cancer radioconjugate programs.
The agreement includes an option to renew, positioning Bicycle to draw on a continually regenerating supply of RepU, which can serve as a precursor material in targeted alpha therapy (TAT) isotope generation.
Bicycle plans to incorporate the radioactive payload into its Bicycle® Radioconjugates (BRC®), a pipeline of cancer therapeutics that combine high-affinity bicyclic peptides with potent alpha-emitting isotopes.
The company also announced a collaboration with the United Kingdom National Nuclear Laboratory (UKNNL) to extract thorium-228 (228Th) from RepU supplied under the NDA agreement.
The extracted isotope will be refined into radium-224 (224Ra) and subsequently into 212Pb, the alpha-emitting radionuclide that Bicycle aims to deploy in oncology indications.
The resulting isotopes will be incorporated into a customized 212Pb generator under development by SpectronRx, designed exclusively for Bicycle’s radiopharmaceutical programs.
The generator is intended to provide a scalable, GMP-ready pathway for producing 212Pb for clinical and commercial use.
Access to a stable supply of 212Pb has become one of the key bottlenecks in advancing TAT technologies, which have recently gained momentum due to their ability to deliver highly localized, high-energy payloads that can destroy cancer cells with limited off-target toxicity.
Bicycle said the combination of agreements with the NDA, UKNNL, and SpectronRx forms a comprehensive supply chain tailored for its proprietary radioconjugates, enabling the potential discovery, development, and commercialization of multiple 212Pb-powered therapies.