Pegulicianine is an optical imaging agent used for fluorescence imaging to detect cancerous tissue within the resection cavity following removal of the primary specimen during lumpectomy surgery. Pegulicianine itself is a prodrug comprising three main fragments, one of which contains a fluorescence quencher that keeps the parent molecule optically inactive.
- Mechanism
- Curator reviewed · 2 references
Pegulicianine is a prodrug that is optically inactive when intact and produces a fluorescent signal after its peptide chain is cleaved by cathepsins and matrix metalloproteases (MMPs). This enzymatic cleavage results in “fragment 2” and “fragment 3”, which are optically active metabolites that emit fluorescence, as well as “fragment 1” containing the fluorescence quencher that keeps the intact molecule optically inactive.
The levels of cathepsins and MMPs are higher in and around tumor and tumor-associated cells than normal cells, allowing for pegulicianine to selectively detect tumor and tumor-associated cells following administration.
- Primary indication
- Pegulicianine is indicated for fluorescence imaging in adults with breast cancer as an adjunct for the intraoperative detection of cancerous tissue within the resection cavity following removal of the primary specimen during lumpectomy surgery.Curator reviewed · 1 structured indication
- First approval
- United States, 2024
Resolves to
What you can answer from here — as of July 23, 2025
Which other approved drugs treat the same conditions as Pegulicianine, and which companies have late-stage candidates in those indications?
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