Israeli oncological treatment startup Starget Pharma has announced the completion of an $18 million financing round in order to advance its radioactive oncological treatment. The new funding will help the company begin clinical trials in collaboration with the MD Anderson Cancer Center in the US and is expanding the company's development and manufacturing infrastructure in the US.
Radiotherapy products combine radioactive materials that can reach the site of cancerous tumors, along with drugs that can reach and act at the site marked by the radioactive material.
The company says that one of the main advantages of the approach is that the same molecule is first used for diagnosis through imaging, and only if the imaging shows clear uptake in the tumor, the same molecule with a more powerful isotope is used as treatment.
Starget Pharma identifies, through an AI-based discovery platform, new radiotherapy drugs that could be effective.
Participated in the latest financing round is Ilex Medical, a company listed in Tel Aviv, which already led a funding round in the company in 2021, along with US investors, including Louisiana Growth Fund, Cancer Focus Fund BRF and other investors.
In parallel with the funding, the company has announced a strategic collaboration with the CMIT Center (Center for Molecular Imaging and Therapy) in Louisiana, to advance the development and manufacturing processes of a new generation of drugs.
This product is based on an exclusive license from ARC, Sheba Medical Center’s innovation arm, based on development from the Center for Advanced Technologies (CART) at Sheba led by Prof. Aryeh Orenstein and his team. In addition, another innovative drug, based on the company's AI platform, for breast and prostate cancer will enter trials in Australia next year.
Starget Pharma cofounder and CEO Sigal Kalmanson Kusnir said: "We combine Israeli strength in the field of AI with breakthroughs in nuclear medicine. The AI platform we developed allows us to discover and develop precision radioactive drugs at a faster pace than is customary in the industry, in order to bring the promise of the field to various types of cancer."
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on February 22, 2026.
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