MAYAGUEZ, Puerto Rico and BALTIMORE, March 6, 2019 - Recent findings by Gowen et al. "Baseline antibody profiles predict toxicity in melanoma patients treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors" (J Transl Med [2018] 16:82) demonstrate that HuProt™ protein microarrays can be used to discover novel immuno-oncology biomarkers for predicting patient toxicity to anti-CTLA-4 and anti-PD1. According to CDI scientists –these results might extend to predicting treatment outcomes for other I-O therapies, targeted therapies, and traditional cancer treatments.

CDI Laboratories, Inc. has created the largest commercially available human protein library. CDI scientists use this library to make protein arrays (HuProt™) for autoantigen biomarker profiling and the development of monospecific monoclonal antibodies. With the recent release of HuProt™ v4.0, CDI Labs has added thousands of additional autologous human proteins to what was already the world's most comprehensive commercially available antigen-specific antibody assay – bringing the v4.0 array to a total of >21,000 unique proteins. At AACR 2019, CDI scientists will showcase recent studies where HuProt™ helped CDI's industry and academic partners discover novel predictive biomarkers for cancer clinical trials.

In what may prove to be a landmark paper for immuno-oncology – Gowen et al. report that "a specific serum autoantibody profile…predisposes [the patients] to develop severe immune related adverse events following immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy." Using data from this same study, CDI reported at the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) annual meeting in fall 2018 that additional autoantibody markers may predict treatment outcomes to checkpoint blockade (https://www.cdi-lab.com/CDI_SITC_POSTER_24x36.pdf).

"Predictive biomarkers are perhaps the most important unmet need in immuno-oncology – physicians need to understand who will respond to what treatments and researchers need to understand the unique biology of patients that fail," says Dr. Tyler Hulett – author of the CDI study and Director of CDI's I-O & Biomarker Development Program. "There is growing evidence that patient-specific features in antigen-specific adaptive immunity – created by past experience to infection, foods, the microbiome, and other unique immune events – may tell us more about the likelihood of a treatment's success than genetic sequencing. My colleagues at CDI manufacture the HuProt™protein array – perhaps the most comprehensive tool available for going after these questions via serum autoantibody profiling." Dr. Hulett will be available to discuss current and future applications of HuProt™ arrays for cancer research at AACR this year - including new isotype-specific autoantibody assays CDI has in development.

About CDI - A privately-owned biotechnology corporation, CDI focuses on protein and antibody microarray design, production and custom assay services. CDI's flagship - HuProt™ - is the most comprehensive human proteome microarray in the industry, allowing thousands of protein interactions to be done in parallel. HuProt enables R&D of future therapeutic and diagnostic tools to proceed more rapidly and cost-effectively. CDI's Fast-MAb® hybridoma development service addresses the urgent need for monoclonal antibodies with unprec­edented specificity for research, diagnostic or therapeutic targets. Fast-MAb antibodies are evaluated for speci­ficity on the HuProt array. The Company exports products world-wide and is expanding its clientele base and its academic and industrial collaborations.

For more information, visit cdi-lab.com



Media Contact:

Tyler Hulett, PhD

Director, I-O & Biomarker Development

CDI Laboratories Inc

(541) 316-8550 (direct)

tyler.hulett@cdi-lab.com