Developing biomarkers to predict response to antibody-drug conjugates
Cancer patients respond differently to antibody-drug conjugates, and ineffective treatment can still cause severe side effects. Selecting patients by cancer-cell surface markers alone does not account for how these drugs enter and travel inside cells, which also affects response.
RAB Diagnostics develops Rab protein biomarkers to predict response to antibody-drug conjugates. Its research services help biopharma study drug processing inside cancer cells and develop assays to support patient selection.
What stands out about RAB Diagnostics
Founding research linked RAB5A expression to T-DM1 response in breast cancer patients from the I-SPY2 and KAMILLA trials.
Secured investment from Aleap, Startuplab, Tore Rynning-Nielsen and Hani Mustafa.
Awarded up to NOK 16 million for its ADC biomarker platform and NOK 1 million in Innovation Norway startup support in 2025.
Emerged from the Rab5 biomarker research project at Oslo University Hospital; the hospital dates company formation to 2023.
Co-founder Olav Engebraaten is an attending oncologist and senior scientist at Oslo University Hospital.
Co-founder Anette Weyergang holds a PhD in intracellular drug delivery and leads a research group at Oslo University Hospital.
Weyergang won SPARK Norway's 2023 Vaccibody innovation prize and the 2024 DNB NXT pitch competition for the founding work.
Oslo Cancer Cluster Incubator supported company formation alongside Radforsk, according to Oslo University Hospital.
Assigned US patent 12,693,294 B2, granted in July 2026, covering RAB5-guided selection for antigen-binding cancer therapy.
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