Company commercializing 'light up' cancer research technology receives over $5 million in funding

OTL38, a product of On Target Laboratories, LLC, is a novel compound which binds with diseased tissue present in several cancers, making it light up, or fluoresce, during cancer surgery. (PRNewsFoto/On Target Laboratories LLC) Download Photo

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – On Target Laboratories LLC, whose fluorescent imaging technology could help surgeons identify and remove more cancerous tissue than previously possible, has received $5.2 million in private funding as the company prepares to enter phase 3 clinical trials in ovarian cancer and phase 2 clinical trials in lung cancer.

On Target's lead molecule OTL38, a patented small molecule that is designed to target and illuminate more than 40 percent of all solid tumors, 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. On Target has partnered with leading U.S. and international hospitals to conduct these trials.

"We have been very pleased with the results of the phase 2 ovarian cancer trial and the various investigator sponsored trials," said Marty Low, On Target Laboratories CEO. "We look forward to expanding clinical development in key indications beyond lung and ovarian cancers in the near future."

On Target's team of researchers have recently identified additional molecules that could target the majority of all remaining cancers. On Target's next molecule, OTL78, is being manufactured in preparation for clinical trials to begin early next year. 

"It is our plan to enable a surgeon to visualize all solid tumor cancers with a selection of a few molecules and we are well on our way to doing so," Low said. "We appreciate our investors who share the same vision and help us move our technologies to the market place."

About Purdue Research Park

The Purdue Research Park is the largest university-affiliated business incubation complex in the country. The Purdue Research Park manages the Purdue Technology Centers in four sites in Indiana located in West Lafayette, Indianapolis, Merrillville and New Albany. The more than 260 companies located in the park network employ about 4,500 people who earn an average annual wage of $63,000. The park is managed by the Purdue Research Foundation, which received the 2014 Incubator Network of the Year by the National Business Incubation Association for its work in entrepreneurship. For more information about funding and investment opportunities in startups based on a Purdue innovation, contact the Purdue Foundry at foundry@prf.org

About On Target Laboratories LLC

On Target Laboratories is in the business of discovering and developing 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 better diagnose and treat a wide range of diseases from cancer to inflammation-related disorders. 

On Target Laboratories LLC contact: Erin Nichols, enichols@ontargetlabs.com

Media Contact: Elizabeth Estes, 313-749-9323, media@ontargetlabs.com