Date Posted: 10 September 2009
Fovea Pharmaceuticals (Paris, France) and Dyax Corporation (Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA) have announced the execution of an exclusive license agreement for the development and commercialisation of a recombinant small protein for therapeutic application to retinal diseases. The small protein, termed DX-88, was originally discovered through a proprietary phage display technology platform which selects compounds that bind with high affinity to therapeutic targets. Fovea will be conducting development work on the protein for application to retinal vein occlusion-induced macular edema.
Bernard Gilly, President and CEO of Fovea commented that, "DX-88 (a potent plasma kallikrein inhibitor) has the potential to be a breakthrough therapy in reducing macular edema, a leading cause of visual loss in multiple ophthalmic diseases. Fovea's interest in DX-88 stems from an understanding of the central role played by plasma kallikrein in the onset of macular edema and from the clinical evidence of DX-88's ability to inhibit edema. We are excited to collaborate with Dyax in developing DX-88 for treating RVO-induced macular edema and other retinal diseases."
DX-88 is one of Dyax's lead products and the company has recently filed a Biologics License Application (BLA) to the FDA for approval in the treatment of hereditary angioedema. The outcome of the regulatory path in the US will undoubtedly be of significant value to Fovea in EU based regulatory filings to be made for the approval of retinal treatments. Fovea has additional programmes in place with Novartis, Genzyme and CombinatoRx as a well as a series of academic collaborations with Inserm, Rothschild Ophthalmological Foundation and the John Hopkins University.
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