CHALFONT ST GILES, England & BURLINGTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--GE Healthcare, a unit of GE (NYSE:GE), and Dyax Corp. (NASDAQ:DYAX) today announced a licensing agreement for the development and commercialization of peptides binding to c-Met, which provides upfront, milestone, and royalty payments to Dyax. Research of potential diagnostic applications and use as a patient selection biomarker in oncology will be explored by GE Healthcare in collaboration with academic institutions and pharmaceutical companies. The license includes application of the peptides in positron emission tomography (PET), single proton emission computed tomography (SPECT), and optical imaging.
“Growth factor receptors such as c-Met are promising therapeutic targets that could be a critical factor in the development of colorectal, lung and liver oncology drugs,” said Marivi Mendizabal, Head of Research, GE Healthcare Medical Diagnostics. “As in vivo imaging technologies become increasingly important in oncology drug development, our vision is that we will be able to rapidly develop new targeted molecular diagnostics – not just for our own clinical portfolio, but as ‘companion’ diagnostic offerings for our strategic biopharmaceutical partnerships.”
Initial preclinical data on c-Met imaging will be presented by GE Healthcare at the American Academy of Cancer Research meeting March 31 – April 4 in Chicago, IL.
“This agreement validates the strength of Dyax’s core phage display library technology to support GE Healthcare’s work to aid the development of cutting-edge treatment options for patients,” said Gustav Christensen, President and Chief Executive Officer at Dyax Corp. “With 18 Dyax-derived antibody or peptide programs currently in human clinical trials, we continue to demonstrate the utility of Dyax’s proven and highly successful engine to power both therapeutic and diagnostic development.”
About GE Healthcare
GE Healthcare provides transformational medical technologies and services that are shaping a new age of patient care. Our broad expertise in medical imaging and information technologies, medical diagnostics, patient monitoring systems, drug discovery, biopharmaceutical manufacturing technologies, performance improvement and performance solutions services help our customers to deliver better care to more people around the world at a lower cost. In addition, we partner with healthcare leaders, striving to leverage the global policy change necessary to implement a successful shift to sustainable healthcare systems.
Our “healthymagination” vision for the future invites the world to join us on our journey as we continuously develop innovations focused on reducing costs, increasing access, and improving quality around the world. Headquartered in the United Kingdom, GE Healthcare is a unit of General Electric Company (NYSE: GE). Worldwide, GE Healthcare employees are committed to serving healthcare professionals and their patients in more than 100 countries. For more information about GE Healthcare, visit our web site at www.gehealthcare.com.
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About Dyax
Dyax is a fully integrated biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of novel biotherapeutics for unmet medical needs. Dyax’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 agreements for regions including Europe, Japan, Russia, the Middle East, Israel, North Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Latin America (excluding Mexico), and the Caribbean. Dyax 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), which has over 70 revenue generating licenses and collaborations for therapeutic discovery, as well as for affinity separations, diagnostic imaging, and research reagents. The success of the Company's LFRP portfolio 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.
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