Cliff Berkman
Cliff Berkman

An imaging agent discovered by a Washington State University researcher that homes in on prostate cancer will be developed for human clinical trials thanks to a two-year $2 million federal Small Business Innovation Research grant.

CTT1057, a positron emission tomography (PET) imaging agent, discovered by Cliff Berkman, professor of chemistry at WSU and chief scientific officer of the Seattle-based biotechnology firm Cancer Targeted Technology, will help diagnose and monitor metastatic prostate cancer.

Unlike other prostate cancer targeting agents, CTT1057 is a small molecule that homes in and binds irreversibly to prostate specific membrane antigen (PSMA) that is overexpressed in prostate cancer.
“Our team has spent several years carefully developing and optimizing CTT1057; as the lead scientist on this program I am excited that this SBIR grant will allow CTT to translate these significant research findings into human clinical studies,” Berkman said.

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