Wyeth and Ablynx are collaborating to discover and develop novel Nanobody®-based therapeutics against TNF-alpha

GHENT, Belgium | December 20, 2007 | Ablynx [Euronext Brussels: ABLX], a pioneer in the discovery and development of Nanobodies®, a novel class of antibody-derived therapeutic proteins, announced today that its TNF-alpha partnership with Wyeth Pharmaceuticals has been extended for another year.

Wyeth and Ablynx are collaborating to discover and develop novel Nanobody®-based therapeutics against TNF-alpha. Wyeth has exclusive rights to develop and commercialise the anti-TNF-alpha Nanobodies® developed under the collaboration.

As part of the collaboration Ablynx receives research funding and would be entitled to future milestone payments and royalties upon commercialisation.

Dr. Edwin Moses, CEO and Chairman of Ablynx, commented:
"We are very pleased with the progress of our partnership with Wyeth, which has world class capabilities in the development and commercialisation of biologics. We look forward to continuing our collaboration for another year. This is an important partnership for Ablynx and we are delighted to continue our joint efforts to advance the TNF-alpha Nanobody®-based programme to the next stage.”
Dr. Frank Walsh, Executive Vice President, Head of Discovery Research of Wyeth Pharmaceuticals said:
“We continue to be excited about the potential of Ablynx’s Nanobody® technology as a platform for next-generation therapeutics targeted to TNF-alpha. We look forward to our ongoing collaboration with Ablynx with the goal of bringing new therapies to patients.”

About Ablynx

Founded in 2001 in Ghent, Belgium, Ablynx is a biopharmaceutical company focused on 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. The Company currently has over 140 employees. Ablynx completed a successful IPO on Euronext Brussels [ABLX] on 7 November 2007.

Ablynx is developing a portfolio of Nanobody®-based therapeutic programmes in a number of major disease areas, including inflammation, thrombosis, oncology and Alzheimer’s disease. Nanobodies® have been generated against more than 100 different disease targets. Efficacy data has been obtained in 16 in vivo models for Nanobodies® against a range of different targets.

Ablynx has an extensive patent position in the field of Nanobodies® for healthcare applications. It has exclusive and worldwide rights to more than fifty families of granted patents and pending patent applications, including the Hamers patents covering the basic structure, composition, preparation and uses of Nanobodies®.

Ablynx has ongoing research collaborations and significant partnerships with several major pharmaceutical companies, including Boehringer Ingelheim, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, Novartis, and P&G Pharma. Ablynx is building a diverse and broad portfolio of therapeutic Nanobodies® through these collaborations as well as through its own internal discovery programmes. Ablynx announced final Phase I data from its first programme, an anti-thrombotic (ALX-0081) in December 2007 and another programme, which is partnered, is in advanced preclinical development.

Nanobody® is a registered trademark of Ablynx NV.

SOURCE: ABLYNX