# Purdue Institute for Cancer Research

Source: https://onco.cc/institutions/purdue-cancer-research/  
OnCo record `purdue-cancer-research` (Institution). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

Purdue's NCI basic cancer centre, where Philip Low's folate- and PSMA-targeted ligands created Endocyte, the company Novartis bought for its radioligand programme.

## Summary

NCI-designated since 1978, the Purdue Institute for Cancer Research is a basic laboratory centre built on chemistry, engineering and analytical science rather than a hospital. Philip Low's folate receptor-targeted imaging agents and small-molecule drug conjugates founded Endocyte, which later licensed the PSMA radioligand that became Pluvicto and was acquired by Novartis in 2018; his laboratory also produced the tumour-targeted fluorescent agents used in fluorescence-guided surgery. Graham Cooks's ambient mass spectrometry (DESI) is being applied to intra-operative tumour margin assessment, and structural and medicinal chemistry programmes feed drug discovery. Purdue partners with Indiana University's Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center for clinical translation.

## Fields

- Kind: Institution
- Last checked: 2026-09-09
- Also known as: Purdue University Center for Cancer Research
- City: West Lafayette, IN, US
- Type: research-institute
- NCI designation: basic
- Website: https://www.cancerresearch.purdue.edu

## Sources

- Purdue Institute for Cancer Research: https://www.cancerresearch.purdue.edu
- Purdue University: https://www.purdue.edu

## Connected records

- fronts: [Drug Discovery Platforms](https://onco.cc/fronts/drug-discovery/), [Radiopharmaceuticals & Theranostics](https://onco.cc/fronts/radiopharma/)
- technologies: [Fluorescence-guided surgery](https://onco.cc/technologies/fluorescence-guided-surgery/), [Peptide-drug & small-molecule-drug conjugates](https://onco.cc/technologies/peptide-drug-conjugate/), [Radioligand therapy (beta emitters)](https://onco.cc/technologies/radioligand-therapy/)
- targets: [Folate receptor alpha](https://onco.cc/targets/folr1/), [PSMA](https://onco.cc/targets/psma/)
- drugs: [Lutetium-177 vipivotide tetraxetan](https://onco.cc/drugs/pluvicto/)
- companies: [Novartis](https://onco.cc/companies/novartis/)
- institutions: [Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center](https://onco.cc/institutions/iu-simon/), [National Cancer Institute (NIH)](https://onco.cc/institutions/nci/)
- people: [Andrew Mesecar](https://onco.cc/people/andrew-mesecar/)
- collections: [NCI-Designated Cancer Centers](https://onco.cc/collections/nci-cancer-centers/)

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