BoomRay Pharmaceuticals has entered an exclusive global licensing deal with Novartis for an undisclosed pre-clinical radioligand therapy (RLT) asset for oncology applications. Under the agreement, BoomRay is eligible to receive up to USD900m in upfront, development, regulatory and sales milestone payments; plus potential royalties on global sales. BoomRay has a pipeline of clinical and preclinical RLT programmes, which combine a radio-isotope with a tumour binding ligand. The company proposes that the RLT mechanism of action is less susceptible to drug resistance, as the cytotoxic effect is not dependent on cellular uptake or active transport pathways.