Dako to Develop Companion Diagnostic for Ono’s Opdivo Cancer Drug

Swedish diagnostics firm Dako, an arm of Agilent Technologies, has partnered with Japanese drugmaker Ono Pharmaceutical to develop a diagnostic test to determine which lung cancer patients are most likely to respond to Ono’s Opdivo.

Opdivo will be used to treat non-small cell lung cancer. An investigational programmed cell death-1 immune checkpoint inhibitor, Opdivo works by binding to the checkpoint receptor PD-1 expressed on activated T-cells. It is the first approved and launched immune checkpoint inhibitor targeting PD-1 in the world, according to Osaka-based Ono.

Lung cancer claims 1.5 million deaths a year, and personalized medicines may improve patient outcomes, Ono said.

Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

Opdivo received Japanese approval in July 2014. Bristol-Myers Squibb holds the global rights to the drug outside of Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. — Kellen Owings