A tool for targeted chemotherapy

The Norwegian start-up company Rab Diagnostics is developing a tool to improve targeted chemotherapy. The test will identify which cancer patients can benefit from antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs).

“There is an unmet clinical need for better tools to stratify cancer patients as responders or non-responders to ADC treatment,” says Anette Weyergang, co-founder and CEO of Rab Diagnostics, a spin-out from Oslo Universiy Hospital admitted to Oslo Cancer Cluster Incubator (OCCI).

Finding the right patients

ADCs represent a prominent class of anticancer therapeutics that bring hope to incurable cancers. Since the first ADC was approved in 2000 by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), 11 more ADCs have received market approval worldwide, 8 of these since mid-2019. Furthermore, over 100 ADCs are currently being investigated in clinical trials. Thus, these anti-cancer drugs are leading a new era of targeted cancer therapy.

“These drugs are targeted chemotherapy, consisting of an antibody linked to a chemotherapeutic drug. The antibody is designed to find the cancer cell while the chemotherapy shall kill it. In this way, ADCs are constructed to bring the chemotherapy to the cancer cells and leave healthy cells unharmed. However, the full clinical potential of these targeted drugs remains to be realised as there is a substantial difference in treatment efficacy between patients, causing unsatisfactory objective response rates (ORRs) down to only 25%. The problem is, we do not know which patients to treat,” says Weyergang.

Founded on Norwegian research

This is where Rab Diagnostics comes in. The company was founded in August 2023 by three researchers at Oslo University Hospital after studies showed that RabGTPases, a family of proteins, can be used as biomarkers to predict if ADCs will work.

“We have made key achievements showing that our technology is valid for different ADCs and cancer indications, and we have shown that our biomarkers can be evaluated on both protein- and RNA levels, which provides flexibility for our products in the pipeline. They have also verified our technology in three independent clinical cohorts,” says Weyergang.

Some of these achievements were published in Nature Communications in 2021 and set the ground for a patent family. The company has developed a strategy to commercialise its first product and generated a business plan to reach this goal. In July 2024, Rab Diagnostics also received the “Seal of Excellence” from the European Innovation Council.

An emerging market opportunity

In the age of personalised cancer medicine, many patient stratification tools and diagnostics tests are entering the oncology market. However, the competition for biomarkers in the ADC space is still relatively low.

“Our competitors consist of companies developing stand-alone diagnostics and companion diagnostics. None of these offers a solution where RabGTPases are used to predict ADC treatment decisions, thus we have no direct competitors,” says Weyergang.

Rab Diagnostics aims to pioneer a new proprietary class of biomarkers, that will unlock the full potential of the rapidly evolving class of ADCs. The company has already received interest from the oncology milieu and had discussions with industry experts from pharma and healthcare companies who have confirmed interest in the technology.

For several cancer indications

The company’s first product is a diagnostic test for breast cancer patients legible for an ADC called T-DM1. As this product is focused on one ADC in a subset of breast cancer, the commercial opportunity is limited.

“Launching this first product is, however, a strategic move as it serves the important task of getting traction for our other diagnostic tests in the pipeline covering several ADCs and cancer indications with a tremendous commercial opportunity. Utilising RabGTPases as ADC biomarkers offers a new way of thinking when it comes to finding the right patient,” says Weyergang.

Rab Diagnostics’ strategy includes fast commercialisation of its first product to educate the market to use Rab proteins to guide ADC treatment decisions.

The story behind Rab

Rab Diagnostics was initiated as an innovation project at Oslo University Hospital and admitted to the SPARK Norway innovation program, where it was awarded the Vaccibody Innovation Award 2023. SPARK provided mentoring and financial support to engage with pharma representatives and investors and supported the first market analysis. The program also provided entrepreneurial education of high value for further development towards commercialisation.

“The innovation project was then admitted to the Oslo Cancer Cluster Incubator who gave mentoring and guidance to set up the company together with financial support from Radforsk. Oslo Cancer Cluster and its Incubator have continuously supported Rab Diagnostics with advice and have used their network to promote the company and connect them with key stakeholders in the field,” says Weyergang.

• For more information, please visit Rab Diagnostic’s website or contact Anette Weyergang, CEO of Rab Diagnostics.

The series The Start-up Spotlight and The Scale-up Spotlight are produced in collaboration between the Norwegian health clusters: Norway Health Tech, Oslo Cancer Cluster, The Norwegian Smart Care Cluster, The Life Science Cluster and Biotech North. The initiative was funded by Viken fylkeskommune. Please contact us, if you wish to have your company to be featured.