{"entity":{"id":"steba-biotech","kind":"company","name":"Steba Biotech","aka":["STEBA Biotech S.A."],"tldr":"Steba Biotech developed padeliporfin, a light-activated drug injected into the bloodstream and switched on by laser fibres in the prostate to destroy low-risk prostate cancer, approved in Europe as Tookad.","summary":"Steba Biotech developed vascular-targeted photodynamic therapy with padeliporfin (WST11, Tookad), a bacteriochlorophyll derivative created at the Weizmann Institute of Science. The drug is infused intravenously and activated by near-infrared light delivered through fibres placed in the prostate, causing rapid vessel occlusion and tumour necrosis. The European Commission approved Tookad in 2017 for unilateral low-risk prostate cancer after a randomised trial against active surveillance; it is also being studied in upper tract urothelial cancer.","asOf":"2026-09-17","links":[],"tags":["drug-maker"],"related":[],"cancers":[],"sections":[],"technologies":[],"targets":[],"drugs":["padeliporfin"],"companies":[],"institutions":[],"pathways":[],"terms":[],"trials":[],"people":[],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":[],"journals":[],"dependsOn":[],"notes":[],"provenance":{"editedBy":"OnCo drug-maker linking round (corporate websites and regulatory records)","editedOn":"2026-09-17"},"hq":"Luxembourg","country":"LU","companyType":"pharma","investors":[],"funding":[]},"route":"/companies/steba-biotech/","neighbours":{"drug":[{"id":"padeliporfin","kind":"drug","name":"Padeliporfin","route":"/drugs/padeliporfin/"}]}}