F R O M S H I N I N G X-R AY S

T O N E W D R U G S

F O R C A N C E R

T H E C O M P A N Y

Based in Grenoble, France, NH TherAguix was

founded in 2015 by a former ESRF employee,

with the goal of bringing an innovative cancer

nanodrug, AGuIX, to market. Six years later, it has

18 employees and is engaged in nine clinical trials,

including phase-two clinical trials.

T H E W O R K

Géraldine Le Duc began working at the ESRF’s ID17

biomedical beamline in 1997, aiming to develop

a single drug that could act both as a contrast

agent for magnetic-resonance imaging (MRI)

and a radio-enhancer for radiotherapy. Radio-

enhancers improve the ability of X-rays to kill

tumours. By combining one with a contrast agent,

Le Duc’s idea was that radiotherapy could take place

just af ter an MRI scan, improving the precision of

X-ray delivery and saving more healthy tissue from

X-rays. She eventually developed AGuIX based on

the element gadolinium. This contrast agent was

being researched by an independent ESRF user,

Olivier Tillement at the University of Lyon in France;

together, he and Le Duc discovered its radio-

enhancing ef fect.

In 2015, Le Duc lef t the ESRF in order to create

NH TherAguix and bring AGuIX to market. In its

phase-one clinical trials focused on brain

metastases, 13 out of 14 tested patients exhibited

a clinical benef it. It plans an initial public of fering

on the Euronext Growth market in Paris.

T H E I M P A C T

Very few companies developing cancer drugs

f ind success But I thought if you dont try af ter

working for 20 years in the lab what else can

you of fer The ESRF was very important to my

story so important that it coowns one of our

patents It is a melting pot of users working on

different types of nanoparticles which helped

me f igure out what worked and what didnt Also

at a synchrotron you can explore a much larger

range of Xray parameters than at a hospital Xray

machine and therefore be more creative with

protocols We hope that AGuIX will be registered

by 2025 to improve cancer survival rates and

quality of life

Géraldine Le Duc founder and CEO NH TherAguix

“The ESRF was very

important to my story.”

Géraldine Le Duc, founder and CEO,

NH TherAguix

Industry benefits from ESRF expertiseI M P A C T O N I N D U S T R Y

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