GHENT, BELGIUM--(Marketwire - November 23, 2009) -
GHENT, Belgium, 23 November 2009 - Ablynx [Euronext Brussels: ABLX], announced today that it has been awarded a grant worth EUR 1.1 million by the Flemish agency for Innovation by Science and Technology (IWT).
The grant allows Ablynx to accelerate its development of alternative routes of administration for therapeutic Nanobodies, and build on the successes that have been achieved so far in this area. In December 2008, Ablynx concluded its first feasibility study of pulmonary delivery and demonstrated in vivo that anti-viral Nanobodies protect against viral infection and eliminate active virus when delivered via an intra-pulmonary route. Ablynx has also demonstrated that Nanobody administration via the lungs resulted in up to 10 times longer systemic exposure compared with intravenous administration.
Ablynx will use the grant to accelerate the development of pulmonary and oral delivery technologies for its Nanobodies. The Company will continue to explore several other potential routes including topical and ocular administration.
Edwin Moses, CEO and Chairman of Ablynx, said: “We are very pleased with IWT’s continued support of Ablynx’s Nanobody technology platform. This grant will allow us to continue to investigate alternative routes of administration for our therapeutic Nanobodies which could result in considerable benefits for patients. Advances in this area could significantly impact on a number of our therapeutic programmes and open up more exciting new opportunities for Ablynx and its partners.”
-ends-
About Ablynx [Euronext Brussels: ABLX] - http://www.ablynx.com
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 220 employees. Ablynx completed a successful IPO on Euronext Brussels [ABLX] on 7 November 2007.
This announcement was originally distributed by Hugin. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
Copyright © Hugin AS 2009. All rights reserved.
For more information, please contact:
College Hill Life Sciences - for International media enquiries:
Sue Charles, Justine Lamond, Dr John McIntyre
t: +44 (0)20 7866 7857
f: +44 (0)20 7866 7900
e: Email Contact
Ablynx:
Dr Edwin Moses
Chairman and CEO
t: +32 (0)9 262 00 07
m: +44 (0)7771 954 193 / +32 (0)473 39 50 68
e: Email Contact
Eva-Lotta Allan
Chief Business Officer
t: +32 (0)9 262 00 75
m: +32 (0)475 78 36 21 / +44 (0)7990 570 900
e: Email Contact
