Affimed and Dyax Cross-License Antibody Technologies

15-Aug-2003

Affimed Therapeutics AG and Dyax Corp. announced today that they have entered into a cross-licensing agreement for phage display technologies. Financial terms were not disclosed.

The Affimed licensed patents consist of two issued U.S. patents with broad claims. They cover the generation of human antibody libraries derived from the IgM repertoire of the immune system, which is considered to be the most diverse naturally occurring repertoire of antibody genes, and the generation of synthetic antibody libraries.

Dyax's Ladner patents have the earliest priority date for phage display patents in the United States and are the core patents in phage display technology. With four granted patents in the United States, Dyax has over 60 licensees to the Ladner patents, making this patent licensing program one of the most widely licensed in the biotechnology industry. The Ladner patents cover the practice of display technologies, including the display of antibodies, peptides, and proteins on any cell, spore, or virus, including bacteriophage.

Peter Fuhge, CEO of Affimed Therapeutics AG, commented: "The cross-licensing agreement with Dyax significantly strengthens our proprietary technology platform for developing therapeutic products using our high quality antibody libraries. This represents another important step on the way to becoming a complete antibody technology company."

"Natural diversity from the IgM repertoire has important advantages over purely synthetic diversity or other natural antibody repertoires," said Henry E. Blair, Chairman and CEO of Dyax Corp. "This agreement is an extension of our strategy to bring a broader intellectual property base and improved technology to both our customers and our internal Dyax antibody development programs."

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Topic world Antibodies

Antibodies are specialized molecules of our immune system that can specifically recognize and neutralize pathogens or foreign substances. Antibody research in biotech and pharma has recognized this natural defense potential and is working intensively to make it therapeutically useful. From monoclonal antibodies used against cancer or autoimmune diseases to antibody-drug conjugates that specifically transport drugs to disease cells - the possibilities are enormous

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Topic world Antibodies

Topic world Antibodies

Antibodies are specialized molecules of our immune system that can specifically recognize and neutralize pathogens or foreign substances. Antibody research in biotech and pharma has recognized this natural defense potential and is working intensively to make it therapeutically useful. From monoclonal antibodies used against cancer or autoimmune diseases to antibody-drug conjugates that specifically transport drugs to disease cells - the possibilities are enormous