When it comes to treating metastatic cancers, the current approach is to destroy everything in the path to the tumor. But the collateral damage from that can be deadly.
For good reason: this search-and-destroy approach may be proving particularly effective when cancer has spread throughout the body and is difficult to treat.
A Collaboration For The Ages?
The two recently inked a 50/50 strategic collaboration to develop up to three radiopharmaceutical oncology programs leveraging their strengths in tumor targeting and cancer cell destruction.
[1] Based on Aptevo’s shares outstanding as of May 13, 2026 (Aptevo’s most recent quarterly filing) and no exercise at closing of the warrants acquired by Niowave.
Expanding Into A New Market
Aptevo said expanding into radiopharmaceutical-based therapeutic development gives it access to a high-growth and increasingly validated area of oncology. For Niowave, it marks its first entry into therapeutic development as it extends beyond radioisotope manufacture and supply.
By combining Aptevo’s multispecific platforms with Niowave’s radioisotope manufacturing and supply capabilities—an important advantage in a supply-constrained market—the companies’ goal is to advance new approaches for cancer patients with high unmet need.
Skin In The Game
Under the terms of the agreement, Aptevo will contribute assets from its proprietary multispecific antibody platforms, including targeting assets directed against Nectin-4. Meanwhile, Niowave will provide radioisotopes and related manufacturing and supply capabilities, including actinium-225 and additional radioisotopes.
Aptevo said Nectin-4 is a strong first target because it is a clinically validated cancer target with broad relevance across solid tumors. It is expressed on the surface of cancer cells, which makes it a logical target for a radiopharmaceutical approach, where the goal is to direct the radioactive payload to the tumor.
It also gives Aptevo and Niowave a practical first program that builds from an established target while applying Aptevo’s multispecific engineering capabilities in a new way. The companies have designed and are already ready to initiate the first stage of the collaboration, which will inform the next steps and future development – potential catalysts to watch out for in the future, depending on results.
Timing Is Everything
Featured image from Shutterstock.
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A novel approach is to target the cancer cells directly while sparing everything else. Known as radiopharmaceutical therapy (RPT), this method of treating cancer has begun to garner interest, to the tune of over $17 billion in investments, according to estimates compiled by Aptevo Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:APVO).
As a result, radiopharmaceutical therapeutics are now at the tipping point when the field needs two things to advance: better tumor targeting and reliable isotope access. An RPT drug is made up of a targeting molecule designed to find the cancer cell and a radioactive compound or isotope that acts as the weapon to destroy it. Both are necessary for this market to take off, and that’s where Aptevo Therapeutics, which is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing novel multispecific immuno-oncology therapeutics, and Niowave Inc., which offers radioisotope production and supply, come in.
Aptevo says it’s got the multispecific platforms and oncology development expertise, while Niowave has the radioisotope production, supply and manufacturing capabilities. To underscore just how serious the two companies are about the opportunity, Niowave also made an equity investment in Aptevo, representing an initial ownership position of 7.9%,[1] with the potential to build an equity stake of up to 19.99% through warrant exercises at a premium to the initial purchase and future purchases of Aptevo common stock. Together, the collaboration gives both companies a timely, capital-efficient path to build radiopharmaceutical oncology programs.
“This collaboration will deepen our radiopharmaceutical development capabilities and better position us to support current partners and the broader industry,” said Mike Zamiara, Chief Executive Officer of Niowave. “Our investment reflects our confidence in the opportunity to combine Aptevo’s targeting capabilities with Niowave’s radioisotope production and supply expertise. Together, we expect to help advance new treatment options for patients with difficult-to-treat cancers.”
The collaboration with Niowave marks Aptevo’s entrance into a new area of cancer treatment. The company is already involved in a phase 1b clinical trial of mipletamig, an investigational therapy for acute myeloid leukemia (AML), and this builds on that. Mipletamig and Aptevo’s pipeline of other investigational therapies are built on its ADAPTIR™ and ADAPTIR-FLEX™ platforms, which are modular protein technologies designed to create precise, multi-specific antibodies that engage the immune system to selectively attack tumors.
“The collaboration between Aptevo and Niowave reflects a strategic expansion of Aptevo’s development plan, and we are extremely pleased to be working with Niowave,” said Jeff Lamothe, President and Chief Executive Officer of Aptevo. “We have established a strong foundation and clinical proof-of-concept with our multispecific assets, and this partnership enables us to extend that capability into radiopharmaceuticals, an increasingly important area of therapeutic development in oncology. By combining our targeting approach with Niowave’s isotope capabilities, we are well-positioned to explore new ways to address the complexity of many kinds of cancer.”
Aptevo and Niowave seem to be going after the radiopharmaceutical therapies market at an opportune time, according to their reports, which could position them well. Radiopharmaceutical therapy has emerged as a clinically validated area of oncology, drawing interest from the likes of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS), Bristol Myers Squibb Co. (NYSE:BMY), Eli Lilly and Co. (NYSE:LLY), and AstraZeneca PLC (NYSE:AZN), which have been investing in emerging radiopharmaceutical companies.
Those investments by Big Pharma, said Aptevo, underscore the important role of smaller, innovation-driven platforms in advancing the field. In addition to needing the immunotherapies that precisely target the cancer cells, development has been constrained by limited access to critical isotopes and manufacturing infrastructure. Niowave is a leading manufacturer and supplier of isotopes with established relationships across the radiopharmaceutical ecosystem, reinforcing its role as a reliable isotope supply partner in a resource-constrained market. Combined, Aptevo said they can support radiopharmaceutical development in complex tumor settings, something the big pharmaceutical companies are struggling to do on their own.
The radiopharmaceutical therapy market may have the potential to take off, but limitations are preventing it from gaining blockbuster status. Aptevo and Niowave are aiming to change that. A small biotech and a manufacturer are teaming up to go after a market that has already seen $17 billion in investments. They may have the opportunity to stop cancer cells in their tracks without all the nasty and harmful side effects, based on the results of their collaboration. To learn more about Aptevo, click here.
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