Dyax Corp. Announces CEO Transition Plan
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--October 20, 2008--Dyax Corp. (NASDAQ:DYAX - News) announced today that Gustav A. Christensen, who joined Dyax as Executive Vice President and Chief Business Officer in April 2007, will succeed Henry E. Blair as President and Chief Executive Officer on January 1, 2009. Mr. Blair, who co-founded Dyax in 1989 and has served as Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer since 1995, will retire and become Chairman of the Board after transitioning his executive role to Mr. Christensen. Mr. Blair and Mr. Christensen will work closely together over the following months to ensure a seamless leadership transition.
"Gustav has contributed greatly to the strategic partnerships driving Dyax's current growth and I am confident that his leadership will bring continued success," commented Mr. Blair. "His past experience advising and leading a number of healthcare companies will continue to be of significant benefit to Dyax as we launch our first product and transition into a fully integrated biopharmaceutical company. I have enjoyed my nearly twenty years as an officer of Dyax and am proud of our many achievements during that time. While retiring from day-to-day responsibilities at the Company, I look forward to continuing to contribute actively as Chairman."
"The Board of Directors thanks Henry for his vision in creating Dyax and for leading the Company through to its first BLA filing," stated Mary Ann Gray, member of the Dyax Board of Directors. "Henry has long been a valued member of the biotechnology community, having been among the select group of individuals who first recognized the immense potential of therapeutic proteins, such as Genzyme's Ceredase®. He has also played an important role in a number of biotechnology companies. Because of his insight and experience, Henry has made innumerable contributions to Dyax over the past 20 years and we look forward to benefiting from his continued insight as Chairman."
"Henry's leadership and vision have been critical in making Dyax what it is today, a diversified company with a sought-after technology, a maturing pipeline, and an important product candidate in DX-88," added Mr. Christensen. "I am excited to lead Dyax into its next phase of growth and development and to build on this legacy as we prepare for commercialization of DX-88 in hereditary angioedema, expand and develop our pipeline and grow our licensing and funded research program."
Mr. Christensen joined Dyax as Executive Vice President and Chief Business Officer, where he has led the Company's partnering strategy and other business development activities, including licensing and collaboration transactions. He has over 25 years of experience in the biotechnology industry as an officer, director, investor and banker. Mr. Christensen received his master's of science degree in economics from the University of Aarhus (Denmark) and a master's degree in business administration (MBA) from Harvard Business School.
Mr. Blair has been director and officer of Dyax since co-founding the company in 1989. He has over thirty years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry, co-founding Dyax, Genzyme, Biocode, GelTex Pharmaceuticals and Biotage, the predecessor to Dyax. He has also served as a director of GTC Biotherapeutics, Esperion Therapeutics, Celtrix Pharmaceuticals, and DynaGen. Mr. Blair was also a member of the board of overseers at Tufts University School of Medicine and the Lahey Hitchcock Clinic and a trustee of the Harvard-affiliated Center for Blood Research.
About Dyax
Dyax is focused on advancing novel biotherapeutics for unmet medical needs, with an emphasis on oncology and inflammatory indications. Dyax utilizes its proprietary drug discovery technology to identify antibody, small protein and peptide compounds for clinical development. Dyax's lead product candidate is DX-88 (ecallantide), a recombinant small protein that is currently being evaluated for its therapeutic potential in two separate indications. On September 24, 2008, Dyax announced the submission of its Biologics License Application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for approval of DX-88 for the treatment of hereditary angioedema (HAE). DX-88 has orphan drug designation in the U.S. and E.U., as well as Fast Track designation in the U.S., for the treatment of acute attacks of HAE. Additionally, DX-88 is being evaluated for the prevention of blood loss during on-pump cardiothoracic surgery (CTS) through its partner Cubist Pharmaceuticals. Dyax licensed to Cubist the intravenous formulation of DX-88 for surgical indications in North America and Europe. DX-88 and other compounds in Dyax's pipeline were identified using its patented phage display technology, which rapidly selects compounds that bind with high affinity and specificity to therapeutic targets. Dyax leverages this technology broadly with over 70 revenue generating licenses and collaborations for therapeutic discovery, as well as in non-core areas such as affinity separations, diagnostic imaging, and research reagents. Dyax is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts. For online information about Dyax Corp., please visit www.dyax.com.
Dyax Disclaimer
This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements regarding the prospects for further growth and development of Dyax and for commercialization of DX-88. Statements that are not historical facts are based on Dyax's current expectations, beliefs, assumptions, estimates, forecasts and projections about the industry and markets in which Dyax competes. The statements contained in this release are not guarantees of future performance and involve certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions, which are difficult to predict. Therefore, actual outcomes and results may differ materially from what is expressed in such forward-looking statements. Important factors which may affect the prospects for further growth and development of Dyax and for commercialization of DX-88 include the risks that: DX-88 could take a significantly longer time to gain regulatory approval than Dyax expects or may never gain approval; Dyax product candidates may not show therapeutic effect or an acceptable safety profile in clinical trials; others may develop technologies or products superior to Dyax's product candidates; Dyax is dependent on the expertise, effort, priorities and contractual obligations of third parties in the clinical trials, manufacture, marketing, sales and distribution of its biopharmaceuticals; Dyax product candidates may not gain market acceptance; Dyax may not be able to obtain and maintain intellectual property protection for its products and technologies; and other risk factors described or referred to in Dyax's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and other periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Dyax cautions investors not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements contained in this release. These statements speak only as of the date of this release, and Dyax undertakes no obligations to update or revise these statements, except as may be required by law.
Dyax and the Dyax logo are registered trademarks of Dyax Corp. Ceradase is a registered trademark of Genzyme Corporation.
Contact:
Dyax Corp. Ivana Magovcevic-Liebisch, 617-250-5759 Executive Vice President of Administration and General Counsel imagovcevic@dyax.com or Nicole Jones, 617-250-5744 Director, Investor Relations njones@dyax.com
Source: Dyax Corp.