The customer develops therapeutic antibodies against cancer and uses Attana's cell-based technology to test and verify its drug candidates in as physically similar conditions as possible. As the target receptors are membrane proteins in the cancer cells, Attana's technology is the only technology that can perform this label-free (ie without fluorescence or similar tags). The alternatives with labeled molecules have generated results with poorer agreement with in-vivo experiments.
Attana's technology speeds up and increases the precision of their development process and reduces their costs. The agreement is entering its fourth year and extends 12 months ahead. It is very important for us as a company to receive this type of contract extension. When we become an integrated part of the customer's drug development process and really contribute with value-enhancing activities, the opportunities for us to build long-term and profitable customer relationships increase, says Attana's CEO Marcus Söderberg.
Similar examples of performed experiment can be found in scientific publications from academic research perfermed using Attana instrument:
"Cellular glycosylation affects Herceptin binding and sensitivity of breast cancer cells to doxorubicin and growth factors" Link: https://www.nature.com/articles/srep43006
"Real-time and label free determination of ligand binding-kinetics to primary cancer tissue specimens; a novel tool for the assessment of biomarker targeting" Link: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S221418041630040X?via%3Dihub