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ABLYNX ANNOUNCES RESEARCH COLLABORATION WITH KIRIN BREWERY GHENT, Belgium, 9th February 2006 – Ablynx, the pioneer in the discovery and development of Nanobodies™, a novel class of antibody-derived therapeutic proteins, has signed a research collaboration and license agreement with Kirin Brewery (Japan). Under the terms of the agreement, the companies will collaborate on a defined project that exploits the unique structural and functional properties of Nanobodies™ for use as novel therapeutic products. The specific objectives and the financial terms of the collaboration were not disclosed. Nanobodies™ are a novel class of therapeutic proteins that combine the beneficial features of conventional antibodies with desirable properties of small molecule drugs. Nanobodies™ have the affinity and selectivity of conventional antibodies yet are only a fraction of their size. Because of their unique structure and high stability, Nanobodies™ can address target opportunities that are beyond the reach of conventional antibodies. Dr. Mark Vaeck, Chief Executive Officer of Ablynx said about the collaboration: “We are delighted to join forces with Kirin Brewery, who are a highly reputable company with a long history and a splendid track record in the field of biotechnology product development and marketing. Through this collaboration we will jointly explore novel applications of the Nanobody™ platform. In addition to our previously announced corporate partnerships, this agreement with Kirin is a further validation of the unique potential of Nanobodies™ for healthcare applications. It also represents our first deal with a leading company in Japan, the world’s third largest pharmaceutical market.” – ends – About Ablynx Ablynx is a biopharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery and development of Nanobodies™, a novel class of therapeutic proteins based on single-domain antibody fragments, for a range of serious and life-threatening human diseases. Ablynx is developing a portfolio of Nanobody™ based therapeutic programs in a number of major disease areas, including inflammation, thrombosis, oncology and Alzheimer’s disease. Already Ablynx has generated Nanobodies™ against more than twenty different disease targets. The company and its collaborators have obtained positive in vivo efficacy data from animal studies in five major therapeutic programs in four disease areas. Importantly, Ablynx has shown the absence of any detectable immunogenicity for its Nanobody™ development candidates in advanced primate studies. Today, three of these programs are in advanced preclinical development, and Ablynx expects to have progressed two of those into clinical trials by early 2007. Ablynx has ongoing research collaborations and significant, multi-target partnerships with several major pharmaceutical companies, including Novartis, Centocor (J&J) and P&G Pharma. Ablynx is building a diverse and broad portfolio of therapeutic Nanobodies™ based on these collaborative deals as well as on its own internal discovery pipeline. Nanobody™ based therapeutics represent a major commercial opportunity as they combine the beneficial features of conventional antibodies, with desirable properties of small-molecule drugs. Because they are derived from naturally-occurring heavy-chain antibodies, Nanobodies™ have unparalleled stability and can be administered in a variety of ways (injected, orally, in sprays or creams), thus overcoming the delivery issues associated with full-sized antibodies, that can only be delivered by injection. In addition, because of their unique structure they can also address therapeutic opportunities that are beyond the reach of conventional antibodies or their fragments, for example targeting epitopes such as receptor clefts, enzyme active sites and viral canyon sites. Nanobodies™ are manufactured in micro-organisms which also presents a significant cost advantage in comparison to production methods for conventional antibodies. Ablynx holds the dominant patent position in the field of Nanobodies™. It has exclusive and worldwide rights to more than forty families of granted patents and pending patent applications, including the patents covering the basic structure, composition, preparation and uses of Nanobodies™ (the ‘Hamers patents’) which have been granted in major territories including the US, Europe and Japan. All products, including therapeutics, that contain Nanobodies™ are covered by these patents. Headquartered in Ghent, Belgium, Ablynx has raised over €33 million (over US$40 million) from a strong investor consortium including Abingworth Management (UK), Alta Partners (USA), Biotech Fund Flanders (Belgium), Gilde Investment Management (The Netherlands), GIMV (Belgium) and Sofinnova Partners (France). For further information please visit the website at www.ablynx.com Contacts
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