On Target receives $5.2M in Funding for Cancer Fluorescence Compound

On Target Laboratories LLC, whose fluorescent imaging technology enables surgeons to identify and remove more cancerous tissue than previously possible, said it has received $5.2 million in private funding as it prepares to enter phase 3 clinical trials in ovarian cancer and phase 2 clinical trials in lung cancer.

OTL38, a product of On Target Laboratories LLC, binds with diseased tissue present in several cancers, causing the tissue to fluoresce during cancer surgery. Courtesy of PRNewsFoto/On Target Laboratories LLC.

On Target's lead molecule OTL38 is a patented small molecule designed to target and illuminate greater than 40 percent of all solid tumors. It has been administered to more than 200 patients in investigator-sponsored trials in renal, endometrial, lung and pituitary cancers, and a phase 2 in ovarian cancer.

The company said its researchers have recently identified additional molecules that could target the majority of all remaining cancers and that its next molecule, OTL78, is being manufactured in preparation for clinical trials to begin early next year.

On Target Laboratories develops small molecules that, when conjugated with fluorescent dyes, target and illuminate specific cancerous cells and other diseased tissue. These conjugates can be used by doctors, worldwide to diagnose and treat a range of diseases from cancer to inflammation-related disorders.