BURLINGTON, Mass. & SAN DIEGO, Calif.--()--Dyax Corp. (NASDAQ:DYAX) and Eclipse Therapeutics, Inc., a privately held oncology company, announced today that Dyax has granted Eclipse an exclusive worldwide license for the development and commercialization of preclinical fully-human antibodies discovered using Dyax’s gold-standard phage display technology for use in oncology indications. In exchange, Dyax will receive an initial license fee, payments upon the achievement of clinical development and sales milestones, and royalties on worldwide net sales resulting from commercialized products.
“Our oncology pipeline focuses on identifying functional therapeutics that specifically inhibit CSC targets critical to the maintenance of cancer stem cells at the root of cancer. Dyax’s expertise in antibody therapeutic discovery accelerates these efforts, allowing us to expand our library of product candidates.”
“We are excited to license this program to Eclipse, a leader in the development of innovative therapies that target cancer stem cells. This agreement reflects our strategy to maximize the value of our technology by partnering with companies that have a unique expertise to drive the development of promising antibody drug candidates,” stated Gustav A. Christensen, President and Chief Executive Officer of Dyax. “This agreement further underscores the significant long-term potential of our robust licensing and funded research program, which continues to be a key driver of near- and long-term value creation for Dyax with 18 therapeutic candidates currently in the clinic, including four in Phase 3 and four in Phase 2.”
“This agreement provides Eclipse with multiple high-value antibody candidates targeting cancer stem cells (CSC) developed using Eclipse’s unique CSC Rx Discovery™ platform and Dyax’s proven phage display technology,” stated Peter Chu, Ph.D., President and Co-founder of Eclipse. “Our oncology pipeline focuses on identifying functional therapeutics that specifically inhibit CSC targets critical to the maintenance of cancer stem cells at the root of cancer. Dyax’s expertise in antibody therapeutic discovery accelerates these efforts, allowing us to expand our library of product candidates.”
About Dyax’s Phage Display
Dyax’s phage display technology has powered therapeutic and diagnostic candidate discovery across a wide range of therapeutic areas. For more than 15 years, Dyax has developed and improved the tools that enable the effective and rapid screening of its proprietary, state-of-the-art, antibody or peptide libraries, each containing billions of members to identify candidate molecules fitting exacting and challenging sets of lead candidate criteria.
As an originator of phage display technology and with consistent leadership in the field, Dyax possesses both the deep technical expertise as well as state-of-the-art tools to assist its partners in minimizing risk and maximizing speed in reaching the clinic with their candidate molecules.
Partners can access Dyax’s fully-human antibody and peptide libraries through the Dyax Licensing and Funded Research Program.
About Dyax
Dyax is a fully integrated biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of novel biotherapeutics for unmet medical needs. The Company’s lead product, ecallantide, has been approved under the brand name KALBITOR® in the United States for the treatment of acute attacks of hereditary angioedema (HAE) in patients 16 years of age and older.
Dyax is commercializing KALBITOR in the United States independently, and establishing strategic collaborations to develop and commercialize ecallantide for the treatment of HAE in key regions worldwide. Currently, Dyax has collaboration agreements for regions including Europe, Japan, Russia, the Middle East, Israel, North Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Latin America (excluding Mexico) and the Caribbean. The company is also exploring other potential indications for ecallantide, either alone or through collaborations, including drug-induced angioedema.
Ecallantide and other compounds in Dyax’s pipeline were identified 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 through the Licensing and Funded Research Program (LFRP). To date, the Company has entered into more than 75 agreements under the LFRP. Collectively, these agreements generate significant revenue for Dyax in the form of license fees, milestone payments and/or royalties. The success of the Company’s LFRP is illustrated by the program’s advanced licensee pipeline that includes 18 candidates in clinical development. Of those candidates, four are in Phase 3 clinical trials, four are in Phase 2 and ten are in Phase 1.
Dyax is headquartered in Burlington, Massachusetts. For online information about Dyax Corp., please visit www.dyax.com.
About Eclipse
Eclipse Therapeutics, Inc. is a private biotechnology company dedicated to the discovery and development of therapeutics that target cancer stem cells and other forms of innovative cancer treatment. Cancer stem cells are a subset of cells within a tumor thought to play a critical role in tumor initiation, recurrence and metastasis. They are also implicated in resistance to current standard of care cancer treatments. Eclipse is leveraging its deep expertise in cancer stem cell biology and therapeutic antibodies to develop novel therapeutics that address unmet needs in cancer patient care.
Eclipse is located in San Diego, California. For more information, please visit http://www.eclipsetherapeutics.com.
Dyax Disclaimer
This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements regarding the expected benefits of Dyax’s license to Eclipse. 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 Eclipse 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 Eclipse and its business other than the license with Dyax.
Dyax, the Dyax logo and KALBITOR are the registered trademarks of Dyax Corp.
CSC Rx Discovery is a trademark of Eclipse Therapeutics, Inc.
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