Inhibitex and Dyax Announce a Collaboration to Develop Monoclonal Antibodies against Enterococci
ATLANTA and CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 26, 2004--Inhibitex, Inc. (Nasdaq: INHX - News) and Dyax Corp. (Nasdaq: DYAX - News) announced today that they have entered into an agreement for the discovery, development, and commercialization of therapeutic products for the prevention or treatment of serious, life-threatening enterococcal infections. Utilizing Dyax's proprietary phage display technology, the companies will discover fully human monoclonal antibodies targeted against Inhibitex's MSCRAMM proteins expressed by enterococci. Under the terms of the co-development agreement, the companies will jointly develop product candidates that may be identified during the collaboration, and will equally share research and development costs, commercialization rights, and profits from any marketed products resulting from the collaboration.
According to recently published statistics, enterococci now account for almost 10% of all hospital-associated bloodstream infections and carry an associated mortality rate for patients in the intensive care unit of 43%. The continuing emergence of antibiotic-resistant enterococci, particularly Enterococcus faecium (E. faecium), has become a significant public health concern. Recent data on hospital-acquired bloodstream infections indicate that during the two year period from 2000-2002, approximately 70% of the E. faecium infections were resistant to vancomycin, otherwise referred to as vancomycin-resistant enterococci, or VRE. This represents approximately a 45% increase in the rate of VRE compared to the two year period 1995-1997.
"We believe this collaboration with Dyax will enhance our ability to bring forward novel immunotherapies for the treatment of enterococcal infections. We have identified and characterized several MSCRAMM protein targets expressed by enterococci, and we look forward to leveraging Dyax's fully human antibody phage libraries to generate potential clinical candidates that target these proteins," stated Joseph M. Patti, chief scientific officer at Inhibitex.
Clive Wood, senior vice president of discovery research and chief scientific officer at Dyax Corp. added, "This collaboration with Inhibitex has exciting potential for product development in a therapeutic area that extends beyond our core focus areas, oncology and inflammation. We are pleased that our antibody libraries continue to be recognized as state-of-the-art, and look forward to working with the team at Inhibitex to identify and develop fully human monoclonal antibodies against MSCRAMM proteins on enterococci."
About Inhibitex
Inhibitex, Inc., headquartered in Alpharetta, Georgia, is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of antibody-based products for the prevention and treatment of serious, life-threatening infections. The Company currently has five drug development programs, all of which are based on its proprietary MSCRAMM protein platform technology. The Company's most advanced product candidate is Veronate, which is currently being evaluated in a Phase III trial for the prevention of hospital-associated infections in very low birth weight infants. Veronate has been granted both Fast Track and Orphan Drug designation by the FDA. Aurexis, the Company's second product candidate, is initially being evaluated in a 60-patient Phase II clinical trial for the first-line treatment, in combination with standard of care antibiotics, of serious hospital-associated S. aureus bloodstream infections. Aurexis has also been granted Fast Track designation by the FDA. Inhibitex has retained all worldwide rights to both Veronate and Aurexis.
In addition to the collaboration with Dyax, the Company also has entered into a license and partnership agreement with Wyeth to develop staphylococcal vaccines. For additional information about Inhibitex, Inc., please visit www.inhibitex.com. |
