Diagnostic Methods Using Anti-MUC1* Antibodies Matching Cancer Patients to a Targeted Therapy

This patent describes a way to test whether a cancer patient is likely to benefit from a therapy that targets a protein called MUC1*, using antibodies that bind to it. It comes from Minerva Biotechnologies, a company focused on cancer and stem cell therapeutics.

The Problem

Targeted cancer therapies only help patients whose tumours actually carry the target the drug is designed to hit. Giving such a therapy to someone whose cancer does not express the target wastes time, exposes the patient to side effects for no benefit, and delays treatments that might work. So before treating, clinicians need a reliable companion diagnostic, a test that shows whether a particular patient’s cancer has the feature the therapy depends on. For therapies aimed at MUC1*, an altered form of the MUC1 protein found on a large share of solid tumours, that means a way to detect aberrant MUC1 expression in a patient’s cancer.

What This Invention Does

The patent provides a method of determining the suitability of treating a patient who has cancer, or cancer metastasis, that is characterised by aberrant expression of MUC1, with a MUC1*-targeting therapeutic. In practice the method uses anti-MUC1* antibodies to detect the relevant form of the protein, so that a clinician can judge whether the patient’s tumour is the kind that a MUC1*-targeting treatment is designed to attack. By identifying patients whose cancers express the target, the test helps decide who is likely to respond, supporting the kind of precision medicine approach in which treatment is matched to the molecular profile of the disease. The filing covers the diagnostic methods themselves and the use of anti-MUC1* antibodies within them.

Key Features

• MUC1* detection. Anti-MUC1* antibodies detect the altered protein in a patient’s cancer.
• Patient selection. The method judges suitability for a MUC1*-targeting therapy.
• Covers metastasis. It applies to cancer and to metastasis of cancer with aberrant MUC1.
• Companion to therapy. It supports deciding who is likely to respond before treatment begins.
• Antibody-based. The test is built around antibodies that specifically bind MUC1*.

Who Is Behind It

The applicant is Minerva Biotechnologies Corporation, a company based in Waltham, Massachusetts, that develops cancer immunotherapies and drugs aimed at MUC1*, which it describes as a growth factor receptor involved in a large majority of solid tumours. The named inventor is Cynthia Bamdad. This filing is a divisional application from an earlier related application.

Why It Matters

The success of targeted cancer treatments depends heavily on giving them to the right patients, and good diagnostics are what make that possible. A test that identifies people whose tumours express MUC1* could help direct a matching therapy to those most likely to benefit and spare others from an ineffective course. Securing the diagnostic methods in Australia supports the company’s research and any clinical or commercial activity in the local market.

Related Concepts

• Mucin 1 – the protein whose altered form MUC1* the test detects.
• Companion diagnostic – the type of test that matches patients to a therapy.
• Targeted therapy – the treatment approach the diagnostic supports.
• Precision medicine – the broader strategy of tailoring treatment to a patient’s biology.
• Antibody – the kind of molecule used to detect the target.

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AU 2026201952 was published in the Australian Official Journal of Patents on 2 April 2026 and is open for public inspection. Patent applications represent inventions that are sought to be protected and do not necessarily reflect commercially available products.