Dyax Corp. and Merck KGaA Enter Into License Agreement for Discovery of Therapeutic Antibodies and Peptides.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Dyax Corp. (Nasdaq: DYAX) announced today that it has granted a non-exclusive license to its proprietary phage display libraries to Merck KGaA (Darmstadt, Germany) for the discovery and development of therapeutic antibodies and peptides. Under the terms of the agreement, Dyax receives an upfront technology license fee from Merck, as well as annual maintenance fees, clinical milestone payments and royalties on net sales of any products that may result from Merck's use of the Dyax libraries. In addition, Merck has an option for Dyax to perform funded research on its behalf. The agreement provides Merck with a license to Dyax's antibody and peptide phage display technology and patent rights, as well as sublicenses to relevant third-party antibody phage display patents that may be used with Dyax's technology.

Henry E. Blair, Chairman, President and CEO of Dyax commented, "I'm pleased with the steady growth in Dyax's revenue-generating collaborations, as evidenced by this addition of Merck KGaA as a library licensee. This collaboration will allow Merck to utilize Dyax's state-of-the-art libraries of fully human monoclonal antibodies, as well as our unique peptide libraries. We look forward to working with the Discovery team at Merck, and to the future potential to conduct funded research on their behalf."

About Dyax

Dyax Corp. is focused on advancing novel biotherapeutics for unmet medical needs, with an emphasis on cancer and inflammatory indications. Dyax utilizes its proprietary phage display drug discovery technology to identify antibody, small protein and peptide compounds for clinical development.

DX-88 and DX-890 are recombinant small proteins that are currently in clinical trials for their therapeutic potential in three separate indications. In its joint venture with Genzyme Corporation, Dyax has successfully completed two Phase II trials of DX-88 for the treatment of hereditary angioedema (HAE). A third Phase II trial is ongoing, and a pivotal Phase III trial is planned. Independently, Dyax has successfully completed a Phase I/II trial of DX-88 for the prevention of blood loss during on-pump heart surgery (CABG procedures) and is in partnering discussions for further development of DX-88 in this indication. For DX-890, Debiopharm S.A., has completed two Phase IIa trials and is now conducting a Phase IIb trial of DX-890 for the treatment of cystic fibrosis (CF). Both compounds have orphan drug designation in the US and EU, and DX-88 also has Fast Track designation in the US for the treatment of HAE.

DX-88 and DX-890 were identified using Dyax's patented phage display technology, which rapidly selects compounds that bind with high affinity and specificity to therapeutic targets. Dyax leverages its technology broadly with over 75 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 Disclaimer

This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements regarding the expected benefits of Dyax's license to Merck KGaA. 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 expected benefits of Dyax's license to Merck KGaA include the risks that: Dyax's future benefits from its non-exclusive licensing program depend on the efforts and priorities of its licensees, which may be subject to changes in the licensee's business direction or priorities; others may develop technologies or products superior to Dyax's phage display technologies; 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 specifically disclaims responsibility for information describing Merck KGaA and its business other than the license with Dyax.

Dyax and the Dyax logo are the registered trademarks of Dyax Corp.