Cambrios Adds Dyax Phage Display License to Its Genes-To-Electronics Technology Portfolio
Monday November 1, 8:23 pm ET
PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 1, 2004--Cambrios Technologies Corp. announced today that the Company has been granted a patent license to Dyax Corp.'s peptide phage display patent portfolio for use in the electronics-industry field, with an option to maintain an exclusive license to these Dyax patents for the synthesis and assembly of materials and structures used in electronic applications. Dyax's proprietary phage display is widely applied in the life sciences industry for therapeutic discovery, diagnostic imaging and other biological applications.
"Nature creates exquisitely complex nanoscale structures made of inorganic materials," explains Michael R. Knapp, Ph.D., Cambrios CEO. "We're developing a biologically based platform for the electronics industry that makes use of this sophisticated molecular and nanoscale engineering by manipulating materials that evolution never got around to. Peptide phage display technology is integral to this approach."
Dyax scientists discovered and patented bacteriophage display technology in the late 1980s as a way to display peptides and proteins on the surfaces of safe-for-human viruses that reproduce only in specific research laboratory bacteria. This enabled researchers to produce and identify proteins or peptides that bind to targets of interest -- such as drug candidates.
Cambrios co-founder Dr. Angela Belcher saw the potential for using the technique to identify biological agents capable of binding a much wider range of materials and to synthesize useful, self-assembling nanostructures. Her inspiration was studying how abalones form their shells.
Dr. Belcher's work has been embodied in a family of patent applications and disclosures filed while she was a professor at the University of Texas. Cambrios has also secured an exclusive, all-fields license to this I.P. The I.P. portfolio addresses novel discoveries in: binding domains specific for inorganic materials; selective nucleation of nanocrystals; hybrid viral liquid crystals in film or fiber form; bifunctional materials and peptide-mediated magnetic and metal materials. These inventions promise to be the foundation of a commercial advantage for the company.
About Dyax Corp.
Dyax Corp. is a biotechnology company focused on advancing novel therapeutics for unmet medical needs, with an emphasis on cancer and inflammatory indications. Dyax integrates the discovery and clinical development of its antibody, small proteins and peptide compounds, with a goal of product commercialization.
Dyax currently has two recombinant small proteins, DX-88 and DX-890, in Phase II clinical development. Both DX-88 and DX-890 were identified using Dyax's patented phage display technology. For online information about Dyax Corp., please visit www.dyax.com.
About Cambrios Technologies Corp.
Cambrios Technologies Corp. was founded in 2002 as Semzyme, Inc. around the work of Dr. Belcher, a professor at MIT and formerly a professor at University of Texas. The company currently has operations in Cambridge, Mass. and will establish headquarters and laboratory operations in the San Francisco Bay Area during the fourth quarter of 2004. First round investors in Cambrios include Arch Venture Partners, Alloy Ventures Oxford Biosciences Partners, Lux Capital, and Avalon Ventures.
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