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FNIH Biomarkers Consortium Announces New Project to Advance Cancer Treatments Using Radiopharmaceutical Therapy

Transforming therapy to deliver more effective care for people with cancer

North Bethesda, MD, April 3, 2025 — The Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH) Biomarkers Consortium announces the launch of the Precision Dosimetry Imaging Biomarker (PDIB) project. This innovative initiative brings together government, academic institutions, and industry in a collaboration to develop more effective radiopharmaceutical therapies (RPTs), also known as radioligand therapies (RLTs). PDIB aims to improve survival rates and quality of life for people with cancer by transforming how therapeutic radiation is measured.

Radiation therapy, a cornerstone of cancer treatment, has been traditionally delivered by directing external beams of radiation to the tumor region. RPTs are a new class of therapies that delivers radiation directly to a tumor, spares nearby healthy cells and can reduce unwanted side effects.

Despite their promise, current methods for measuring RPT radiation are not harmonized between treatment centers. This presents a challenge in optimizing the therapeutic benefits for patients while minimizing radiation exposure. It has resulted in conservative treatment strategies that likely underdose patients and lead to suboptimal outcomes. PDIB will use imaging techniques to track RPT dose and location to guide clinicians and maximize therapeutic benefit.

FNIH will lead this three-year, $4.9 million public-private partnership by bringing together leading experts from government, academia, medical societies, patient advocacy groups, and industry to:

  • Develop innovative tools to improve the reliability of radiation measurements throughout the treatment pathway.
  • Harmonize imaging protocols and dose measurements to optimize consistency of patient treatment strategies.
  • Create harmonized methods to foster cross-specialty collaboration and accelerate the development of new RPTs.

By ensuring informed, consistent, and precise radiation dosing, the PDIB project will unlock the full potential of RPTs, offering hope to more cancer patients.

Learn more about the project and our partners at the project page, and see what our partners are saying.

About the FNIH’s Biomarkers Consortium:
Established by Congress in 1990 to support the mission of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Foundation for the NIH (FNIH) builds public-private partnerships that connect leading biomedical scientists at the NIH, life sciences companies, foundations, academia, and regulatory agencies. Through team science, we solve complex health challenges and accelerate breakthroughs for patients. The FNIH’s Biomarkers Consortium leads cross-sector efforts to validate and seek regulatory endorsement of biomarkers, make research results broadly available, and accelerate the development of new therapeutics and health technologies.

The FNIH is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) charitable organization. For more information, please visit fnih.org.