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Dako and Amgen to Collaborate in Development of a Companion Diagnostic for an Amgen Investigational Cancer Therapy

Dako, a world leading independent cancer diagnostic supplier with 45 years of experience in pathology, announced today that it has entered into a development and collaboration agreement with Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN) to develop a diagnostic test for an Amgen cancer drug candidate targeted for a rare and deadly cancer.

"I am proud to announce that Dako and Amgen have succeeded in putting together a business model that supports the concurrent development of drug and diagnostics for a low incidence cancer -- something that has been difficult to achieve in the industry until now," says Lars Holmkvist, Dako's chief executive officer.

"This new collaboration brings hope to cancer patients suffering from this rare form of cancer," he adds.

Today's announcement marks the continuation of Dako's commitment to advance companion diagnostics by collaborating with strong partners in the pharmaceutical sector. Over the past 24 months agreements with AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Genentech have been announced.

"Our agreement with Amgen is one of several partnerships that Dako has entered with pharma companies to enable the development of diagnostic tests to predict which patients are most likely to respond to specific treatments," says Lars Holmkvist.

The demand for personalized medicine is increasing with the recognition that it may provide a way to improve patient care and manage healthcare costs by targeting treatments to individuals more likely to benefit from specific therapies.

About Dako
Dako, based in Denmark, is a global leader in tissue-based cancer diagnostics. Hospital and research laboratories worldwide use Dako's know-how, reagents, instruments and software to make precise diagnoses and determine the most effective treatment for patients suffering from cancer. Employing more than 1000 people and being present in more than 80 countries, Dako covers essentially all of the anatomic pathology markets globally. Dako is owned by private equity fund EQT. www.dako.com