GE Healthcare and Affibody AB to collaborate on imaging agent

GE Healthcare (NYSE:GE) signed an agreement with Affibody AB (“Affibody”) to collaborate on the development of a Her2-targeted PET imaging agent, which is scheduled to begin clinical trials later this year.

Future clinical trials will investigate the confirmation of Her2 status in patients with breast cancer recurrence, to determine if Her2 status changes over time, monitor therapy of patients with metastatic breast cancer receiving anti-Her2 treatments, and help resolve indeterminate Her2 tests. These studies, if positive, could ultimately pave the way for better targeting of anti-Her2 therapies to those patients most likely to benefit.

“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,” Marivi Mendizabal, Head of Research for GE Healthcare, Medical Diagnostics. “We expect a productive collaboration with leading academics and the pharma industry to help this research reach its full potential.”

“We are very pleased to continue our relationship with GE Healthcare from the preclinical to the clinical setting and look forward to collaborate with a world-leading partner”, commented David Bejker, CEO of Affibody. “Our clinical data, 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.”

A Commitment to Cancer

The GE commitment to cancer spans beyond its own products and services. Building on its 50 years in the oncology space, in September 2011 GE, through healthymagination, announced a new commitment to take cancer research, diagnostics and treatment to the next level. The company committed to accelerate cancer innovation by investing $1 billion in cancer technology research and development as well as improve care for 10 million cancer patients around the world by 2020.

In tandem with that announcement, GE and several partners launched a $100 million open innovation cancer challenge, an open call to action seeking ideas to accelerate early detection and enable more personalized treatment for breast cancer. GE and its venture capital partners pledged up to $100 million to fund breakthrough ideas that help healthcare professionals better understand triple negative cancer pathways, and the molecular similarities between breast cancer and other solid tumors.

The challenge garnered more than 500 ideas from 40 countries, sparking robust conversations among more than 200 academic institutions and researchers on the Challenge’s open innovation platform. In March 2012 the first five innovation award winners were announced. The five innovation award winners have the potential to help doctors find cancer earlier, make more accurate diagnoses and choose the best possible treatment based on each patient’s unique cancer.