Advertisement
The collaboration follows the recent publication of work by Atherascientific founders, Professors Frostegard and de Faire of the KarolinskaInstitutet. The research links naturally occurring antibodies againstphosphorylcholine (PC) to atherosclerosis, and correlates low antibody levelswith an increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease. Atherosclerosisis a chronic inflammatory disease in which the walls of the blood vessels arethickened and become less elastic.
Advertisement
During the discovery phase of the collaboration, Dyax will utilize itsproprietary antibody libraries to generate fully human monoclonal antibodies.Athera will provide reagents, assays, and in vivo animal models for use inselecting a clinical product candidate. Upon successful completion of thediscovery work, Athera and Dyax will have the option to advance the antibodylead(s) into clinical development under the terms of a global co-developmentand commercialization agreement.
"We are very pleased to be working with Athera," commented Clive Wood,EVP, Discovery Research and CSO of Dyax Corp. "Through their innovativeresearch from the Karolinska Institutet, we believe Athera has identified anexciting potential opportunity for therapeutic antibody treatment ofcardiovascular inflammation."
"The strength of Dyax's phage display technology, screening capabilitiesand expertise in drug discovery make them an excellent partner to advance ourcardiovascular research program," said Carina Schmidt, CEO of Athera.
About Dyax Corp.
Dyax is focused on advancing novel biotherapeutics for unmet medicalneeds, with an emphasis on oncology and inflammatory indications. Dyaxutilizes its proprietary drug discovery technology to identify antibody,small protein and peptide compounds for clinical development. Dyax's leadproduct candidate is DX-88 (ecallantide), a recombinant small protein that iscurrently being evaluated for its therapeutic potential in two separateindications. On September 24, 2008, Dyax announced the submission of itsBiologics License Application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration forapproval of DX-88 for the treatment of hereditary angioedema (HAE). DX-88 hasorphan drug designation in the U.S. and E.U., as well as Fast Trackdesignation in the U.S., for the treatment of acute attacks of HAE.Additionally, DX-88 is being evaluated for the prevention of blood lossduring on-pump cardiothoracic surgery (CTS) through its partner CubistPharmaceuticals. Dyax licensed to Cubist the intravenous formulation of DX-88for surgical indications in North America and Europe. DX-88 and othercompounds in Dyax's pipeline were identified using its patented phage displaytechnology, which rapidly selects compounds that bind with high affinity andspecificity to therapeutic targets. Dyax leverages this technology broadlywith over 70 revenue generating licenses and collaborations for therapeuticdiscovery, as well as in non-core areas such as affinity separations,diagnostic imaging, and research reagents.
Dyax Disclaimer
This press release contains forward-looking statements, includingstatements regarding the expected benefits of Dyax's licensed technology inits collaboration with Athera and the prospects for development oftherapeutic antibodies to treat cardiovascular inflammation. Statements thatare not historical facts are based on Dyax's current expectations, beliefs,assumptions, estimates, forecasts and projections about the industry andmarkets in which Dyax competes. The statements contained in this release arenot guarantees of future performance and involve certain risks, uncertaintiesand assumptions, which are difficult to predict. Therefore, actual outcomesand results may differ materially from what is expressed in suchforward-looking statements. Important factors which may affect the expectedbenefits of Dyax's collaboration with Athera and the prospects fordevelopment of antibodies to phosphorylcholine include the risks that:products from this collaboration may not show therapeutic effect or anacceptable safety profile in clinical trials or could take a significantlylonger time to gain regulatory approval than Dyax expects or may never gainapproval; products developed in this collaboration may not gain marketacceptance; others may develop products superior to those being developed inthis collaboration; Dyax is dependent on the expertise, effort, prioritiesand contractual obligations of Athera in the development of products arisingout of this collaboration; Dyax and Athera may not be able to obtain andmaintain intellectual property protection for the products of thiscollaboration; and other risk factors described or referred to in Dyax's mostrecent Annual Report on Form 10-K and other periodic reports filed with theSecurities and Exchange Commission. Dyax cautions investors not to placeundue reliance on the forward-looking statements contained in this release.These statements speak only as of the date of this release, and Dyaxundertakes no obligations to update or revise these statements, except as maybe required by law. Dyax specifically disclaims responsibility forinformation describing Athera and its business other than the license withDyax.
Dyax and the Dyax logo are the registered trademarks of Dyax Corp.
About Athera Biotechnologies
Athera Biotechnologies AB develops novel products for risk assessment andtreatment of CVD. The company was founded in 2002 to exploit findings made byProfessors Johan Frostegard and Ulf de Faire on the critical role ofphospholipid antibodies (aPL) in the inflammatory process of cardiovasculardisease. Athera is based in Karolinska Institutet Science Park in Stockholmand main investors include Karolinska Development and Baltic Sea Foundation.Athera is a major partner in the highly ranked EU-project CVDIMMUNE lead byKarolinska Institutet. The project involves 10 academic and industrialpartners, including Phadia GmbH, Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz andLeiden University Medical Center. For further information seehttp://www.athera.se.
Contact: Carina Schmidt, CEO, Phone: +46705525115, Mail:[email protected]
SOURCE Athera Biotechnologies
