Dyax Corp. and Glenmark Enter Into Funded Research Agreement for Discovery of Therapeutic Antibodies
Monday March 12, 6:30 am ET
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dyax Corp. (Nasdaq: DYAX - News) and Glenmark Pharmaceuticals S.A., the wholly-owned Swiss subsidiary of Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd. (Glenmark), announced today that they have entered into a funded research agreement for the discovery of therapeutic antibodies. Under the terms of this agreement, Dyax will perform funded research to identify therapeutic antibodies for three targets provided by Glenmark. Furthermore, these research activities may be expanded to include additional targets. Dyax will receive technology license fees and full time employee payments from Glenmark for the funded research as well as clinical milestone payments and royalties on net sales that may result from Glenmark's development and commercialization of antibodies from Dyax's libraries. The agreement also provides Glenmark with sublicenses to relevant third-party antibody phage display patents that may be used with Dyax's technology.
Henry E. Blair, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Dyax, commented, "We are very excited to have entered into an agreement with Glenmark, one of India's most successful research driven pharmaceutical companies with an expanding pipeline of product candidates in oncology and inflammation. This collaboration further enhances our remarkable success and the growing value in our Licensing and Funded Research Program (LFRP)."
Glenn Saldanha, Managing Director and CEO of Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd., on this occasion commented, "This is a very important step in Glenmark's entry in the field of Novel Biologics Research. Oncology and inflammation are areas of large unmet medical needs. Our strategy to supplement NCE research with Biologics Research would allow us to build a strong pipeline in this area. We expect the first Biologic product from Glenmark to enter clinics in 2009."
Dr. Michael Buschle, President of Biologics Business of Glenmark, stated, "Dyax's antibody platform is considered to be an industry-leading technology and we are very pleased to partner with them. We anticipate three highly promising New Biological Entities coming out of this collaboration."
About Dyax
Dyax is focused on advancing novel biotherapeutics for unmet medical needs, with an emphasis on oncology and inflammatory indications. Dyax utilizes its proprietary drug discovery technology to identify antibody, small protein and peptide compounds for clinical development.
Dyax's lead product candidate is DX-88, a recombinant small protein that is currently in clinical trials for its therapeutic potential in two separate indications. Dyax has successfully completed three Phase 2 trials and a Phase 3 trial of DX-88 for the treatment of hereditary angioedema (HAE). A confirmatory study, known as EDEMA4, is planned and expected to begin in the first quarter of 2007. DX-88 has orphan drug designation in the U.S. and E.U., as well as Fast Track designation in the U.S. for the treatment of acute attacks of HAE.
Additionally, Dyax has successfully completed a Phase 1/2 trial of DX-88 for the prevention of blood loss during on-pump coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) procedures. Dyax is initiating a Phase 2 trial for further development of DX-88 in on-pump cardiothoracic surgery (CTS), including CABG and heart valve replacement and repair procedures.
Dyax identified DX-88 and other compounds in its pipeline using its patented phage display technology, which rapidly selects compounds that bind with high affinity and specificity to therapeutic targets. Dyax leverages this technology broadly with over 70 revenue generating licenses and collaborations for therapeutic discovery, as well as in non-core areas such as affinity separations, diagnostic imaging, and research reagents.
Dyax is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and has antibody discovery facilities in Liege, Belgium. For online information about Dyax Corp., please visit www.dyax.com.
Dyax Disclaimer
This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements regarding the expected benefits of Dyax's licensed technology in its license to Glenmark. Statements that are not historical facts are based on Dyax's current expectations, beliefs, assumptions, estimates, forecasts and projections about the industry and markets in which Dyax competes. The statements contained in this release are not guarantees of future performance and involve certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions, which are difficult to predict. Therefore, actual outcomes and results may differ materially from what is expressed in such forward-looking statements. Important factors which may affect the expected benefits of Dyax's license to Glenmark include the risks that: Dyax's future benefits from its non-exclusive licensing program depend on the efforts and priorities of its licensees, which may be subject to changes in the licensee's business direction or priorities; others may develop technologies or products superior to Dyax's phage display technologies; Dyax may not be able to obtain and maintain intellectual property protection for its products and technologies; and other risk factors described or referred to in Dyax's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and other periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Dyax cautions investors not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements contained in this release. These statements speak only as of the date of this release, and Dyax undertakes no obligations to update or revise these statements, except as may be required by law. Dyax specifically disclaims responsibility for information describing Glenmark and its business other than the license with Dyax.
Dyax and the Dyax logo are the registered trademarks of Dyax Corp.
About Glenmark
Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd. is a research-led, global, fully integrated pharmaceutical company headquartered in Mumbai, India. The Company is a leader in India in the discovery of new molecules and is focused in the areas of inflammation (Asthma/COPD, etc) and metabolic disorders (Diabetes, Obesity, etc). The Company has generic formulation and API business interests in over 80 countries across the world including the highly regulated markets of USA and Europe. The formulation business spans several product segments such as Dermatology, Internal Medicine, Paediatrics, Gynaecology, ENT, Diabetes and Oncology.
Glenmark's first Asthma/COPD molecule, Oglemilast (GRC 3886), was licensed out to Forest Laboratories and Teijin Pharma Limited for the North American and Japanese markets, respectively, in two landmark deals. Oglemilast is presently undergoing Phase II clinical trials in the US. The Company's second lead GRC 8200, a DPP-IV inhibitor for Type II Diabetes was recently out-licensed to Merck KGaA, Germany for the North American, European and Japanese markets. A third molecule targeting pain, GRC 6211, recently entered Phase I clinical trials in Europe. Glenmark has three other programmes across obesity, inflammation and pain management at the pre-clinical stages; all of which should enter the clinics in by H1 FY2008. (www.glenmarkpharma.com) |
