Telix Pharmaceuticals Limited and Mauna Kea Technologies announced an exclusive scientific and clinical research collaboration in the field of molecular imaging guided urologic oncology. The Telix and Mauna Kea scientific and clinical research collaboration is called the “Imaging and Robotics in Surgery (IRiS) Alliance,” or “IRiS Alliance,” and was created to further develop the combined technological capabilities of both companies. The IRiS Alliance was formed based on the belief that the use of cancer-specific Positron Emission Tomography (PET) imaging agents, including dual-modality tracers that combine PET and fluorescent (optical) techniques, in conjunction with confocal laser endomicroscopy, may significantly improve surgical techniques and clinical outcomes in patients with urologic cancers.

The IRiS Alliance aims to demonstrate that pre-operative planning, intra-operative guidance, surgical margin assessment and other surgical parameters may be improved by combining these modalities. The initial focus of the IRiS Alliance is to develop and evaluate the use of Telix's dual-modality PET and optical imaging tracers, together with Mauna Kea's unique near-infrared version of the Cellvizio endomicroscopy platform to facilitate fluorescence-guided surgical interventions for prostate and kidney cancers.