Dako and Amgen to Collaborate in Cancer Therapy

"I am proud to announce that Dako and Amgen have succeeded in putting together a business model that supports the concurrent development of drug and diagnostics for a low incidence cancer -- something that has been difficult to achieve in the industry until now," says Lars Holmkvist, Dako's chief executive officer.

"This new collaboration brings hope to cancer patients suffering from this rare form of cancer," he adds.
Today's announcement marks the continuation of Dako's commitment to advance companion diagnostics by collaborating with strong partners in the pharmaceutical sector. Over the past 24 months agreements with AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Genentech have been announced.

"Our agreement with Amgen is one of several partnerships that Dako has entered with pharma companies to enable the development of diagnostic tests to predict which patients are most likely to respond to specific treatments," says Lars Holmkvist.

The demand for personalized medicine is increasing with the recognition that it may provide a way to improve patient care and manage healthcare costs by targeting treatments to individuals more likely to benefit from specific therapies.