Cancer treatments are moving toward more precision-based strategies that target just cancer cells and leave healthy ones alone. Radiation therapy, however, has been slow to fully optimize this approach since it’s challenging to target radioactive material without harming nearby tissue. But Victor Bultó, president of Novartis U.S., and his team have been leading the way with the first approved radioligand therapies, which link radioactive material with markers designed to find and bind just to tumor cells. The therapy allows doctors to treat even difficult-to-find cancers that have spread.
The approved treatments target prostate cancer and neuroendocrine tumors, but Bultó says the company is studying the therapy for other cancers as well. In 2026, Novartis announced plans to build its fourth U.S. manufacturing site for radioligand therapies. “We believe this will become a mainstream technology to fight cancer,” Bultó says.