GHENT, BELGIUM--(Marketwire - July 05, 2010) -
GHENT, Belgium, 5 July 2010 - Ablynx [Euronext Brussels: ABLX], announced
today
that it has been awarded a grant worth EUR1.1 million by the Flemish
agency for
Innovation by Science and Technology (IWT) and a second grant worth EUR0.4
million
from the Portuguese government, as part of a consortium.
The IWT grant allows Ablynx to accelerate its pre-clinical
development
programme, ALX-0171, for the treatment of respiratory syncytial virus
(RSV)
infections. ALX-0171 binds to RSV and neutralises the virus. The Nanobody
will
be administered via the lungs and based on in vivo data, it has the
potential to
be effective both in the prevention of infection as well as in treatment
once
infection has occurred.
ALX-0171 is Ablynx's first Nanobody pre-clinical development candidate
to be
delivered through a route other than injection. Like many Nanobodies,
ALX-0171
is very stable, making it suitable for inhalation. It can also be
manufactured
at relatively low cost in microbial systems.
The grant from the Portuguese government will allow Ablynx and
its
collaborators, to explore routes of delivery for Nanobodies into the
central
nervous system (CNS) and to develop Nanobodies against therapeutically
relevant
CNS targets.
Edwin Moses, CEO and Chairman of Ablynx, said: "We are delighted with
IWT's
continued support of Ablynx's Nanobody platform as well as with this
second
grant from the Portuguese government which will allow us to further
explore and
develop Nanobody-based therapies for CNS diseases where the unmet medical
need
is very high. Today, we have over 25 therapeutic programmes in our
pipeline
with four Nanobody products in clinical development."
[HUG#1429682]
Complete version of the press release:
http://hugin.info/137912/R/1429682/376717.pdf
This announcement is distributed by Thomson Reuters on behalf of Thomson
Reuters clients.
The owner of this announcement warrants that:
(i) the releases contained herein are protected by copyright and
other applicable laws; and
(ii) they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and
originality of the information contained therein.
All reproduction for further distribution is prohibited.
Source: Ablynx via Thomson Reuters ONE