A predictive biomarker for Antibody Drug Conjugates in lung cancer

Targeted chemotherapy is a new type of cancer treatment called antibody drug conjugates (ADCs). They are showing promise by targeting cancer cells more precisely than traditional chemotherapy. But there’s a catch: these treatments don't work for everyone, and doctors often struggle to know which patients will benefit. RAB Diagnostics is a startup company spun out from Oslo University Hospital, developing medical tests that can help doctors predict which patients are most likely to respond to ADCs. The company is currently progressing on its first product, which helps determine whether a patient should receive a specific ADC treatment called Kadcyla. Early results are impressive: The first product may boost the success rate of Kadcyla from 50% to over 90%. This project has been based on new data showing that another medical test should be used for a large group of ADCs in breast and lung cancer. Within this project, a first prototype for this new product has been generated and tested. In addition, the project has secured IPR through a patent application and has also confirmed interest from potential customers and KOL. With the results from this project, more patients can in the future get the right treatment. This will spare patients from unnecessary side effects, but also help hospitals save money and use their resources more efficiently.

In this project, a first prototype has been made for a new product. The prototype represents the first step towards a clinically approved test that will increase the response rate and spare non-responding cancer patients from unnecessary treatment. The prototype itself may also be used by pharma companies to de-rist rug development and learn more about their ADC mechanism of action. Interest in this has been confirmed during this project. Developing clinically approved companion diagnostics, as done here, is highly time-consuming and costly and cannot be done without securing rights to the coming product. With this application, a new patent application has been submitted, enabling further development of our new product. Rab Diagnostics has been raising seed funding since mid 2024. This has been highly challenging. Finally, in December 2025 we succeed closing our seed funding. The results generated with this application was of high importance in this process. Thus, the results from this project have secured further development of our products and company towards commercialization.