Epitope Diagnostics Launches the First Commercially Available Immunoassay Kits Exclusively for the Quantitative Measurement of Antibody Drug Conjugate Level (ADC)

San Diego, CA, June 20, 2013 --(PR.com)-- Antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) are a new type of targeted therapy which are very promising in cancer treatment, particularly with the FDA approval of ADCETRIS® (brentuximab vedotin). ADCs are cancer cell specific monoclonal antibodies that are conjugated with highly potent cyotoxics via a specific linker, which delivers and releases the drug inside the tumor cell. ADCs significantly increase target specificity and reduce toxicity.

Measurement of circulating specific cytotoxic ADCs are extremely important for pre-clinical and clinical studies. Epitope Diagnostics has developed specific antibodies to DM1, MMAE, and MMAF. Based on these specific antibodies, they have developed three specific enzyme immunoassay kits (EIA) for measuring DM1-ADC (Antibody DM1 conjugate), MMAE-ADC (antibody MMAE conjugate) and MMAF-ADC (antibody MMAF conjugate) for specimen among human, rodent, primate and any other experimental animal species.

These three EIA kits feature a total incubation of less than 3 hours. The standard curve spans from 30 ng/mL to 20,000 ng/mL. Additionally, the tests require a very small volume for determination of this cytotoxic ADCs in the specimen -- only 25 microliter of specimen is required. Assay procedure is very simple to perform with just one step plate wash.

"We're very excited to offer the first commercially available quantitative ADC test in ELISA format. These test kits will be extremely useful in studies related to ADC metabolism or pharmacokinetics," says Epitope Diagnostics' President, Ping Gao. "Our Research and Development team will continue to investigate new technologies that bring value to the new drug development and pharmaceutical community."

The EDI™ DM1 ADC EIA Kit, EDI™ MMAE ADC EIA Kit, and the EDI™ MMAF ADC EIA Kit are available now. High affinity and specific antibodies to DM1, MMAE and MMAF are also available. Epitope Diagnostics is currently interested in collaborating with pharmaceutical companies to develop and manufacture customized ADC immunoassays and antibodies. For more information, contact the Epitope Diagnostics customer service department at slenart@epitopediagnostics.com or by telephone: +1 (858) 693-7877

Product List:
1) Mouse Anti DM1 Specific Antibody in 0.5% BSA, 0.01M PBS-T, ph 7.4 (Catalog No. 30698)
2) Mouse Anti MMAE Specific Antibody in 0.5% BSA, 0.01M PBS-T, ph 7.4 (Catalog No. 30699)
3) Mouse Anti MMAF Specific Antibody in 0.5% BSA, 0.01M PBS-T, ph 7.4 (Catalog No. 30700)
4) EDI™ DM1 ADC EIA Kit (KTR711)
5) EDI™ MMAE ADC EIA Kit (KTR712)
6) EDI™ MMAF ADC EIA Kit (KTR713)

References:
The Next Advancements in Cancer Drug Development: Antibody-Drug Conjugates - Onco'Zine - The International Cancer Network, June 14, 2012 [1]
Dimond (9 Mar 2010). "Antibody-Drug Conjugates Stage a Comeback"
Doronina SO et al. Nat Biotechnol. 2003;21(7):778-784
Alley SC et al. Curr Opin Chem Biol. 2010;14(4):529-537
Hamblett KJ et al. Clin Cancer Res. 2004;10(20):7063-7070
Antibody Drug Conjugates: A Marriage of Biologics and Small Molecules - Pharmaceutical Technology. Pharmtech.findpharma.com.