On Target Laboratories

On Target Laboratories, Inc. is a West Lafayette, Indiana-based specialty pharmaceutical/biotechnology company that discovers, develops and commercializes small molecules conjugated with near-infrared fluorescent dyes for intraoperative molecular imaging. The agents pair a targeting ligand that binds receptors overexpressed on cancer cells with a fluorescent dye, causing malignant tissue to illuminate under a near-infrared imaging system so surgeons can identify and remove cancer that might otherwise be left behind. The technology derives from the work of Philip S. Low, PhD, Purdue University's Presidential Scholar for Drug Discovery and Ralph C. Corley Distinguished Professor of Chemistry, and Director of the Purdue University Center for Drug Discovery.

The company's first product, CYTALUX, targets folate receptors commonly found on many cancers and is administered as a single intravenous infusion before surgery. It received FDA approval of a New Drug Application for ovarian cancer in November 2021 and a supplemental New Drug Application for lung cancer in December 2022. The lead molecule, previously described as OTL38, was evaluated in a Phase 3 ovarian cancer trial and a Phase 2 (later Phase 3, ELUCIDATE) lung cancer trial, and the company has published clinical results in journals including Nature Medicine, Annals of Surgery, The Annals of Thoracic Surgery, Clinical Cancer Research, Gynecologic Oncology and Journal of Thoracic Oncology.

The pipeline targets ovarian, lung, prostate and colorectal cancer, which the company states account for nearly 72% of all inpatient oncology procedures and represent a potential impact on about 3 million procedures annually across open, minimally invasive, robotic and interventional surgical approaches.