Studies will investigate Her2 status in metastatic disease to help therapy decision making.

GE Healthcare and Affibody are collaborating on the development of a Her2-targeted PET imaging agent. The companies plan to begin clinical trials later this year. It is hoped that these studies will ultimately pave the way for better targeting of anti-Her2 therapies to those patients most likely to benefit.

Clinical trials will investigate the confirmation of Her2 status in patients with breast cancer recurrence, determine if Her 2 status changes over time, monitor therapy in metastatic breast cancer patients receiving anti-Her2 treatments, and help resolve indeterminate Her2 tests.

“Our clinical data,” notes David Bejker, CEO of Affibody, “the first of which was presented at the 34th San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium last December, is the result of collaborative research with leading academics and has led us to believe that a Her2-targeted PET imaging agent may benefit many cancer patients.”

Marivi Mendizabal, head of research for GE Healthcare, medical diagnostics, adds, “The partnership brings together the best of several distinct offerings: GE Healthcare’s market expertise in the global PET market, industrialization, and commercialization and Affibody’s expertise in generating high-affinity binders and initial clinical data. We expect a productive collaboration, with leading academics and the pharma industry to help this research reach its full potential.”

Affibody is a Swedish biotech company focused on developing biopharmaceuticals based on its platforms Affibody® molecules and Albumod™. It is developing candidates in house and also offers the half-life extension technology Albumod for outlicensing. Affibody has ongoing commercial relationships with several companies including Algeta, Amylin, Swedish Orphan Biovitrum, and Thermo Fisher.

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