Cereius was founded by Dr. Michael Zalutsky and Dr. Kimberly Blackwell. Dr. Zalutsky is Professor of Radiology, Radiation Oncology and Biomedical Engineering at Duke University.

Dr. Blackwell is Vice President, Early Phase Development and Immuno-oncology at Lilly Oncology and adjunct Professor of Medicine, Duke University. Ed Field is CEO of Cereius which operates out of BioLabs North Carolina, a co-working space for life science startups in downtown Durham.

Exclusive License

Cereius’ intellectual property includes next-generation radiolabeling chemistries developed by Dr. Zalutsky and exclusively licensed from Duke University. These techniques increase the uptake of radionuclides within the tumor site by up to 5-fold compared to existing methods while simultaneously reducing the off-target levels in healthy tissues.

Moreover, the chemistries can employ a variety of medically advantageous radionuclides to either enhance the detection sensitivity of diagnostic imaging or to improve the therapeutic index of targeted therapies. By combining these technologies with advancements in the field of high-affinity, tumor-targeting agents that can cross the blood brain barrier, Cereius has positioned itself to deliver new targeted classes of both radiologic diagnostics and radiotherapeutics for the treatment of cancers in the brain.