Dako, VARI partner to license, manufacture and distribute cancer diagnostics

Van Andel Research Institute (VARI) and Dako, the Danish-based, worldwide supplier of cancer diagnostic tools today announce an agreement to license, manufacture and distribute cancer diagnostics utilizing the MET4 Antibody.

The MET4 Antibody, developed by George F. Vande Woude, Ph.D. and Brian Cao, M.D. of VARI and Beatrice Knudsen, M.D., Ph.D., formerly of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, has undergone and continues to undergo rigorous testing in numerous research labs worldwide. MET4 works exceptionally well with tumors expressing the human MET oncogene and biopsies using routine immunohistochemical procedures. Diagnostic tools with the MET4 Antibody will be developed and manufactured by Dako for clinically relevant diagnostic indications and commercialized worldwide. Dako also holds the right to develop MET4 companion diagnostic assays (pharmDx™ assays) in collaboration with pharmaceutical companies to identify cancer patients who may benefit from MET-targeted therapies.

"The application of the MET4 Antibody in Dako's extensive pharmDx™ development pipeline will expand the growing numbers of high quality companion diagnostic pharmDx™ kit solutions released from Dako and further improve patient characterization and selection for tailored drug treatment," says Lars Holmkvist, CEO of Dako.

"MET is a very important target in the development of anti-cancer drugs," says Van Andel Institute Chairman & CEO David Van Andel. "It is gratifying to see efforts translated from the lab to the clinical setting where they can have an immediate impact on human health."

Inappropriate MET activity and signaling occur in human tumors, which can affect the growth of cancer cells. In the past several years, many drugs targeting the hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor (HGF/SF)-MET pathway have been developed.  These include antibodies against HGF/SF, and MET and small-molecule inhibitors of MET activity. Studies currently underway link MET to more than 30 different types of cancer (see www.vai.org/met).

"Studies have shown that targeting MET signaling can have potent antitumor effects, and it is therefore important to identify patient subgroups most likely to benefit from MET-targeted therapies," says Dr. Vande Woude, VARI's Founding Research Director in whose laboratory MET was discovered.

"The quality of the MET4 Antibody is superb, and it faithfully reports the amount of MET in single cancer cells," says Dr. Knudsen. "It will provide an extremely valuable tool for pathologists and as a companion diagnostic to determine the best treatment for cancer patients."