Nuclidium CEO: ‘Our challenge remains the demonstration of clinical efficacy and utility’
Series CEO spotlight, Episode 19:
Leila Jaafar, the CEO of Nuclidium, has just raised over CHF100 million ($121 million) to develop diagnostics and therapies for key cancers. That’s just the first step in the long journey of getting drugs to market.
Could Nuclidium become the Novartis of tomorrow?
That is certainly the hope of the investors who have just injected more than CHF100 million into this promising Basel-based biotech start-up. Founded in 2021, Nuclidium is pioneering the development of copper-based radiopharmaceuticals for diagnosing and treating several types of cancer, including metastatic prostate and breast cancer.
Copper-based radiopharmaceuticals are considered a breakthrough because they can improve both the detection and treatment of cancer using a matched pair of copper isotopes. This enables a true “theranostic” approach: diagnose the cancer and then treat the same target with a related drug.
Such an approach helps physicians to select patients who are most likely to benefit and estimate the radiation dose reaching tumours and healthy tissues.
The potential market is enormous. According to the company, the US market for the diagnosis and treatment of metastatic prostate cancer alone could exceed $50 billion annually – a figure comparable to Swiss pharma giant Novartis’s worldwide annual sales.
Despite this promising start, Leila Jaafar, Nuclidium’s 51-year-old CEO, stresses that the company still has a long way to go before its products reach market and that conclusive clinical trials must come first.
Swissinfo: As a German citizen with Malaysian roots, why did you decide to establish Nuclidium in Basel, Switzerland?
Leila Jaafar: For historical reasons. Until 2016, I was a programme manager at Areva, a major French multinational industrial group specialising in nuclear power and energy. I was responsible for producing radionuclides [atoms with unstable nuclei that release excess energy in the form of radiation], and one of our key clients was the power plant in Gösgen, in canton Solothurn, Switzerland.
Remaining in the same field, I subsequently established Swiss Nuclides, a consulting firm based in canton Aargau to develop copper-based radio and therapeutics and diagnostics aimed at addressing various solid tumour conditions, such as prostate cancer and breast cancer.
Next, I established Nuclidium in Basel in 2021 with seed investments from the cantonal hospital of Baden Baden and Alpiq, a Swiss energy company. We chose Basel because our first clinical trials took place at the University of Basel.
Swissinfo: What did Basel offer you?
L.J: The regional ecosystem in our field is exceptionally strong. For instance, the Paul Scherrer Institute in canton Aargau is a pioneer in radiopharmaceuticals and their development. The Basel region is also home to major potential clients and partners. Switzerland is also a good place to obtain initial grants. In our case, we received financial support from organisations including Innosuisse; this government agency also coached us in developing a solid business case.
Next, we raised CHF10 million in the first funding round, Series A, from a group of wealthy individuals based in Switzerland. This funding enabled us to conduct two clinical trials. Their success subsequently allowed us to raise more than CHF100 million in our second round, or Series B financing, in 2025-2026.
Swissinfo: Your Series B investors are all based outside Switzerland. Why did no Swiss investor participate?
L.J: In practice, we first attracted a major European venture capital firm that strongly believed in our science. This firm played a key role in assembling the final financing syndicate and attracting its usual European co-investors. This does not rule out financial support from the Swiss ecosystem in the future, however.
Swissinfo: What makes copper-based radiopharmaceuticals so special? Why is this such a medical breakthrough?
L.J: A radionuclide is an unstable, radioactive form of an element that releases radiation as it naturally breaks down. Examples of radionuclides include copper-61 and copper-67.
Nuclidium uses copper-61, which emits radiation detectable by the so-called PET (positron emission tomography) scans, to locate tumours precisely, and copper-67 – which emits radiation – to destroy these tumours.
Swissinfo: Who are your main competitors?
L.J: Our main competitors are not only other clinical-stage radiopharmaceuticals but also big pharma players such as Novartis, Lilly, and AstraZeneca, operating in the same oncology treatment area and along the same therapeutic line.
Swissinfo: How large are your potential markets?
L.J: To give an order of magnitude, if we consider only the diagnosis and treatment of metastatic prostate cancer in the United States, we could reasonably expect to treat 200,000 patients per year. Assuming that each patient requires four to six doses annually, with each dose priced at $56,000, this would represent a market of approximately $56 billion per year. This potential market is therefore significant.
Swissinfo: Do you cite the US market because it is your priority geographical market?
L.J: The United States is a highly valuable strategic market. Many investors and pharmaceutical companies are also based in this country. For this reason, many European start-ups like ours initially focus on the US market for clinical trials, marketing authorisation and reimbursement procedures. In a second phase, they target the European markets, which are collectively roughly the same size as the US market.
Swissinfo: When do you expect to bring your first products to market?
L.J: I know that most start-up founders dream of a very bright future. In our case, however, we prefer to focus entirely on successfully completing Phase 1 and Phase 2 clinical trials for our first diagnostic and therapeutic solutions. This means analysing the clinical-trial data without compromise, ensuring that our solutions are safe and do not present unacceptable toxicity, demonstrating early evidence of efficacy, and obtaining initial information on the appropriate dosimetry.
We are even prepared to discontinue the development of a solution if the data do not support it. Without this discipline, there is too great a risk of conducting extremely expensive Phase 3 clinical trials and nevertheless failing to obtain marketing authorisation.
Swissinfo: How much additional funding will you need to bring your first products to market?
LJ: The required additional funding largely depends on the success of our Phase 1 and Phase 2 clinical trials. Given the substantial cost and complexity of managing Phase 3 clinical trials that always involve a large numbers of patients, we will decide in due course on the best way to proceed. However, as a relatively small company, one option would naturally be to partner with larger companies in some form. Alternatively, given our prioritisation of the US market, an initial public offering on the Nasdaq could be another option.
Swissinfo: Given your focus on the US market, would you consider shifting Nuclidium’s centre of gravity there?
LJ: Not at all. At present, the radiopharmaceutical supply chain is concentrated in the United States and Canada, while Europe and Switzerland remain relatively undeveloped markets. We see a business opportunity in developing this supply chain in Europe, particularly in Switzerland, and using it to serve global markets. It is important to remember that radiopharmaceuticals have a long history in Switzerland, which possesses substantial expertise in this field.
Swissinfo: Your background is predominantly scientific. What are the challenges that you face when leading a company?
LJ: I am well aware that companies typically fail not because they lack good science, but because they lack business acumen. Fortunately, I developed this acumen by co-founding two other companies and through my six years at Areva, where I initially worked as a technical leader and subsequently as a programme manager with profit-and-loss responsibility.
Swissinfo: Your success depends on hiring the right people. How do you persuade outstanding candidates to join a start-up such as Nuclidium rather than an established company?
L.J: I emphasise that, in a start-up like ours, every employee – including junior employees – can have a considerable impact, for example on our clinical trials and, ultimately, on patients’ lives. In large, established companies, employees are generally assigned very specific tasks. Regardless of how much they earn, they cannot have the same breadth of impact. In our field, we also compete with the very best, which is a source of motivation and pride for all our employees.
Swissinfo: What are your main challenges looking forward?
L.J: The immediate challenge remains the supply chain. We need reliable access to radionuclides, sufficient manufacturing capacity, and timely delivery to our patients in the clinical trials.
More fundamentally, our challenge remains the demonstration of clinical efficacy and clinical utility. We must establish that our products are effective and sufficiently safe, and show how they improve treatment decisions and patient outcomes in clinical practice.
Leila Jaafar
Since 2021: Founder, chief executive officer, and board member, Nuclidium
2016–2022: Founder and chief executive officer, Swiss Nuclides
2010–2016: Various positions at Areva
Education
2006–2009: PhD in Biophysics, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg and International Max-Planck Research School for the Physics of Light.
Edited by Virginie Mangin/gw
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