The News

Ablynx announces technical advances in its NANOBODY® platform technology: enhanced benefits from pulmonary delivery and half-life extension

14/01/2009

•          Pulmonary delivery of anti-viral Nanobodies® gives extended protection against viral infection in vivo
•          In vivo proof of concept for its novel proprietary half-life extension technology
 
 
GHENT, Belgium, 14 January 2009 - Ablynx [Euronext Brussels: ABLX], a pioneer in the discovery and development of Nanobodies®, a novel class of antibody-derived therapeutic proteins, announced today two significant advances achieved with its Nanobody® platform. In the first, it has shown that anti-viral Nanobodies® give extended protection against viral infection in vivo when administered via an intrapulmonary route. In the second, Ablynx has demonstrated in vivo proof of concept for a proprietary novel half-life(*) extension technology which allows the half-life of its Nanobody®-based therapeutics to be tailored depending on the disease indication.
 
Pulmonary delivery of Nanobodies®
Ablynx has demonstrated that anti-viral Nanobodies® protect against signs of viral infection and presence of active virus when delivered via an intrapulmonary route. Following a single administration of the Nanobodies® via the lungs, neutralization of virus was observed for at least 72 hours.
 
Additionally, Ablynx has shown that Nanobodies® are suitable for systemic delivery(**) via the lungs. Their extended bioavailability is increased by a factor of five to ten times compared with intravenous administration.
 
Ablynx is also investigating other alternative delivery technologies for its Nanobodies® including oral to systemic delivery and needleless administration.
 
Novel proprietary half-life extension technology
Ablynx has access to several different methods to tailor the half-life of its Nanobodies® depending on the desired characteristics of the therapeutic drug candidate and the indication. The Company announced today that they have discovered and developed a novel proprietary half-life extension technology and demonstrated in vivo results which show considerable potential to significantly increase the half-life for its Nanobodies® in humans.
 
 
Please see link below for the complete version of this press release
 
For more information, please contact:
College Hill Life Sciences - for UK/International media enquiries:
Sue Charles, Justine Lamond, John McIntyre
t:   +44 (0)20 7866 7857
f:   +44 (0)20 7866 7900
e:  ablynx@collegehill.com
 
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:  edwin.moses@ablynx.com
 
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:  eva-lotta.allan@ablynx.com