INGLEWOOD, Calif., Jan. 22, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — ImaginAb, Inc., announces that it has entered into an agreement to sell a pipeline of next-generation therapeutic candidates, proprietary novel biologics technology platform, and a protein engineering and discovery research facility to Telix Pharmaceuticals Limited (ASX: TLX; Nasdaq: TXL).

Following the closing of this transaction, ImaginAb Inc., will focus on developing its lead imaging candidate, CD8 ImmunoPET, which is currently in Phase 2  clinical trials and has been licensed by numerous pharmaceutical and biotech companies for use in imaging within immunotherapy clinical trials, primarily in oncology. In addition, ImaginAb will continue to partner in advancing the pivotal prostate cancer imaging agent, which is currently being evaluated in Phase 2 clinical trials and as a surgical resection tool.  

Dr. Anna Wu, Founder of ImaginAb, commented, “We are very pleased that Telix recognizes the potential of our novel biological technology platform including enabling Telix to explore new disease areas with state-of-the-art radiotherapeutic technology. These radiopharmaceutical agents represent the culmination of significant effort and resources by our scientific team.   I extend my congratulations to everyone at ImaginAb for reaching this significant milestone. This transaction further validates our novel minibody platform.”

Dr. Wu continued, “With the sale of our radiopharmaceutical platform, ImaginAb will continue the development of its CD8 platform.   We are encouraged that numerous pharmaceutical and biotech companies have incorporated our technology in their immuno-oncology clinical trials.”

Jefferies LLC and Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated served as financial advisors to ImaginAb on the transaction.

About ImaginAb, Inc.

ImaginAb, Inc. is a clinical stage, revenue-generating global biotechnology company developing the next generation of radiopharmaceutical and imaging agent products. These patented products contain engineered antibodies that maintain the specificity of full-length antibodies while remaining biologically inert in the body. Used with widely available positron emission tomography (PET) and optical imaging technology, these novel targeting agents are able to bind specifically to cell surface targets.

The company is backed by top tier venture capital firms and strategic corporate firms including, Adage Capital, The Cycad Group, Norgine Ventures, Innoviva, Jim Pallotta of the Raptor Group, The Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, and Merck (NSE:) (MSD) Pharma. For more information about ImaginAb’s pipeline and technology, visit  www.imaginab.com.

About CD8 ImmunoPET

The 89Zr CD8 ImmunoPET technology (zirconium Zr 89 crefmirlimab berdoxam) is a [89Zr]-labelled minibody that binds the CD8 receptor on human T cells and is used for quantitative, non-invasive PET imaging of CD8+ cells in patients. CD8+ cells are the main effector cells involved in the immune response against tumor cells induced by immunotherapies and they also play a key role in multiple autoimmune diseases. As such, quantitative imaging of CD8+ cells can be used to diagnose the immune status of a patient, to measure the efficacy of immunotherapies and predict patient outcomes.

About Optical PSMA

The Optical PSMA Imaging Agent  (IR-800 IAB2 Minibody) is a fluorescent labelled minibody that binds the PSMA  receptor present on cancer cells including prostate cancer and is used for quantitative, non-invasive PET imaging of PSMA+ cells in patients undergoing surgery to remove cancerous tissue . As such, imaging of PSMA + cells  may be used to guide clinicians during surgery to identify cancerous tissue and aid tissue resection.

By Daniel Trotta and Bianca Flowers

(Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump escalated his campaign against diversity programs on Tuesday by pressuring the private sector to join the initiative and telling government employees in offices administering such programs they would be placed on paid leave.

On his first day in office Trump issued a series of executive orders to end diversity, equity and inclusion programs, which attempt to promote opportunities for women, ethnic minorities, LGBTQ+ people and other traditionally underrepresented groups.

Civil rights advocates have argued such programs are necessary to address longstanding inequities and structural racism.

In an executive order issued on Tuesday, Trump revoked executive orders dating as far back as 1965 on environmental actions, equal employment opportunities and encouragement to federal contractors to achieve workforce balancing on race, gender and religion.

The 1965 order that was revoked was signed by then-President Lyndon Johnson to protect the rights of workers employed by federal contractors and ensure they remained free from discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or national origin, according to the Labor Department.

The Trump executive order seeks to dissuade private companies that receive government contracts from using DEI programs and hiring on the basis of race and sex – what the order called “illegal DEI discrimination and preferences” – and asked government agencies to identify private companies that might be subject to civil investigation.

“As a part of this plan, each agency shall identify up to nine potential civil compliance investigations of publicly traded corporations, large non-profit corporations or associations, foundations with assets of 500 million dollars or more, State and local bar and medical associations, and institutions of higher education with endowments over 1 billion dollars,” the order said.

Full details on how the Trump administration would enforce “civil compliance investigations” were not immediately available.

The order issued on Tuesday stipulates that federal and private-sector employment preferences for military veterans could continue.

The executive order was celebrated by conservative activists and Republican leaders. It was also met with swift condemnation from civil rights leaders.

Rev. Al Sharpton, founder and president of the National Action (WA:) Network, announced on Wednesday the organization and its partners plan to identify two companies in the next 90 days that will be boycotted for abandoning DEI pledges.

Basil Smikle Jr., a political strategist and policy adviser, said he was troubled by the Trump administration’s assertion that diversity programs were “diminishing the importance of individual merit, aptitude, hard work, and determination” because it suggested women and people of color lacked merit or qualifications.

“There’s this clear effort to hinder, if not erode, the political and economic power of people of color and women,” Smikle said.

“What it does is opens up the door for more cronyism,” he said.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request from Reuters to address criticism from civil rights advocates.

Separately, the Trump administration instructed U.S. federal government departments and agencies to dismantle all DEI programs, advising employees of such programs that they would be immediately placed on paid leave.

The government should by the end of business on Wednesday inform employees of any government offices or units focused exclusively on DEI that their programs will be shut down and employees placed on leave, the Office of Personnel Management said in a memorandum.

Trump also signed a memorandum on Tuesday that ends a Biden administration initiative to promote diversity in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), ordering the FAA administrator to immediately stop DEI hiring programs, the White House said.

Trump ordered the FAA to conduct a safety review that would replace any employees who fail to demonstrate their competence.

“President Trump is immediately terminating this illegal and dangerous program and requiring that all FAA hiring be based solely on ensuring the safety of airline passengers and overall job excellence,” the White House said in a fact sheet.

(Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump’s declaration of a national energy emergency to boost drilling and speed up pipeline construction should withstand court challenges but will not allow oil and gas producers to skirt all environmental laws, according to legal experts.

Trump, a Republican who campaigned on a promise to “drill baby drill,” has said the declaration will speed permitting and approval of energy projects to fix what he has called an inadequate and unaffordable U.S. energy supply. 

The U.S. is the world’s largest oil producer and the world’s largest exporter of liquefied , according to U.S. Energy Information Administration data.

Trump’s energy declaration, among the executive orders he signed his first day in office, invokes a federal law giving the president broad discretion to declare emergencies and unlock special powers. Legal experts say challenging the declaration itself in court would likely be futile because courts rarely question the president’s judgment in using the National Emergencies Act. 

“The law doesn’t define what an emergency is, and so far no court has been willing to overturn a finding that there is an emergency,” said University of California, Berkeley Law School professor Dan Farber. 

The National Emergencies Act can unlock presidential powers in 150 different statutes but has limited reach into environmental laws and regulations. 

The true legal tests will likely arise in implementation of the order, which directs federal agencies to scour their books for laws and regulations that could be used to speed along approval and permitting for projects like drilling, refining and pipeline construction.

The order cites laws including the Clean Water Act, Endangered Species Act and Mammal Protection Act, which impose review and permitting requirements on energy projects.

“It could expedite energy projects but also harm water standards, endangered species protections, fill in the blank,” said Emory University School of Law professor Mark Nevitt. 

“There’s a reason those emergency regulations aren’t tapped on a day-to-day basis.”

Erik Schlenker-Goodrich, Executive Director of the Western Environmental Law Center, said he expects most of the legal fighting to arise over what federal agencies actually do, rather than the declaration itself. 

“We anticipate that political appointees will work to implement Trump’s agenda through secretarial orders and specific agency actions, whether regulatory rollbacks, new lease sales, drilling permits, pipeline approvals, etc. That’s where the fight will prove most intensive,” Schlenker-Goodrich said.

The emergency declaration could be a useful tool for defending those agency decisions in court, providing a national security rationale that judges would be unlikely to question, some experts said. 

The order includes a prominent role for the president’s National Security Advisor, who could sign off on reports concluding that certain regulatory rollbacks are necessary to protect vital national interests.

“Once you have that badge of approval from the National Security Council, you can flash it to every federal judge that tries to stand in the way, because courts consistently defer to national security claims,” said Tyson Slocum of the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen.

Environmental groups have condemned the energy emergency order, saying climate change driven by fossil fuels consumption is the true emergency. 

But some have said they do not expect to file lawsuits until they see what the administration actually does. 

“It’s hard to challenge an executive order in general,” said Brett Hartl of the Center for Biological Diversity. “If they start doing things that are egregious and use the executive order as a rationale, we would be prepared to sue,” Hartl added.

David Doniger, a senior attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council, said in a statement that the emergency declaration does not override other laws and that any regulatory rollbacks outlined in executive orders will have to be done through proper legal channels. 

“We certainly will challenge rollbacks that lack legal and scientific support.” 

While Trump can encourage new drilling by rolling back regulations and pushing for more fossil fuel output in places like Alaska, the cadence at which oil and gas production increases will ultimately be decided by energy companies and market forces.

Many energy firms have restrained growth in recent years to focus on shareholder returns and buybacks after investors soured on the sector. Meanwhile, natural gas producers are looking to a boom in new U.S. LNG facilities to boost demand after cutting output in 2024 as prices fell to the lowest in decades. (This story has been refiled to change the date to Jan 22, not Jan 21, in the dateline)