Paul Capital Acquires Dyax Royalty Rights To Xyntha

Paul Capital Healthcare has acquired from Dyax Corp. (Nasdaq: DYAX) the rights to royalties and other payments related to the commercialization of Xyntha by Pfizer Inc. The deal is valued at $12 million, including a $10 million up-front payment. Xynthia is a recombinant factor VIII product for patients with hemophilia A.

PRESS RELEASE

Dyax Corp. (NASDAQ: DYAX) announced today that it has sold its rights to royalties and other payments related to the commercialization of Xyntha® by Pfizer, Inc., a licensee under the Company’s phage display Licensing and Funded Research Program (LFRP), to an investment fund managed by Paul Capital Healthcare. Under the terms of this sale, Dyax received an upfront cash payment of $10 million and will be eligible to receive milestone payments totaling up to $2 million based on Xyntha sales in 2010 and 2011. A portion of the upfront cash payment was applied to Dyax’s debt obligations under the LFRP and, net of this and other required payments, Dyax received approximately $6.8 million, exclusive of potential future milestone payments.

“Behind this product, there is an extensive licensee pipeline of clinical-stage compounds that, as they mature and become commercialized, have the potential to bring in regular and substantial revenue to Dyax.”
Xyntha, marketed as ReFacto AF in Europe, (Antihemophilic Factor (Recombinant), Plasma/Albumin-Free) is a recombinant factor VIII product for patients with hemophilia A for both the control and prevention of bleeding episodes and surgical prophylaxis. The peptide ligand, used in the purification process during the manufacture of Xyntha, was discovered by Dyax using its proprietary phage display libraries. Xyntha is distinguished as the only recombinant factor VIII treatment to utilize an entirely synthetic purification process.

“The sale of this royalty stream highlights the increasing value potential of our LFRP,” stated Gustav A. Christensen, President and Chief Executive Officer of Dyax. “Behind this product, there is an extensive licensee pipeline of clinical-stage compounds that, as they mature and become commercialized, have the potential to bring in regular and substantial revenue to Dyax.”

“The projected value of Dyax’s Xyntha royalties have continued to increase significantly over time and we are pleased to provide non-dilutive capital to Dyax as an important contribution to creating value for them,” said Lionel Leventhal, partner at Paul Capital Healthcare.

The LFRP provides access to the Dyax’s phage display libraries in various types of licenses and collaborations. Dyax maintains more than 70 ongoing license agreements with various research, biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies under the LFRP. To date, licensees have advanced 17 product candidates into clinical development and one product (Xyntha®) has received market approval.

About Dyax’s Phage Display

Dyax’s proprietary drug discovery platform, phage display, provides an efficient means to identify compounds that interact with a wide array of therapeutic targets. Dyax’s discovery capabilities have been further enhanced through automation, which has enabled the Company to evaluate a large number of molecules binding to each target. In this way, Dyax is able to rapidly identify and select a specific antibody, peptide or small protein with the desired biochemical and biological characteristics. Dyax’s state-of-the-art antibody phage display libraries allow for the rapid isolation of fully human target-specific antibodies from a library of billions of unique antibodies. These extensive libraries are screened using in vitro selection strategies that are tailored to increase the yield of lead candidates with the desired therapeutic properties.1,2

About Dyax

Dyax is a fully integrated biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing and commercializing novel biotherapeutics for unmet medical needs. Dyax utilizes its proprietary drug discovery technology to identify antibody, small protein and peptide compounds for clinical development. Our lead product, DX-88, has been approved under the brand name KALBITOR® (ecallantide) in the United States for the treatment of acute attacks of hereditary angioedema in patients 16 years of age and older.

In addition to its approved commercial use, DX-88 is also being evaluated for its therapeutic potential in other angioedema indications (acquired and ACE inhibitor-induced angioedemas) and, through a collaboration with Fovea Pharmaceuticals (a subsidiary of sanofi aventis), is in a Phase 1 trial for retinal vein occlusion-induced macular edema.

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. Under a loan agreement between Cowen Health Care Royalty Partners (CHRP) and Dyax, CHRP is entitled to receive a specified percentage of the net royalties, including all milestones fees and other payments, receivable by Dyax under its Licensing & Funded Research Program (LFRP) through 2016. Dyax is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts. For online information about Dyax Corp., please visit www.dyax.com.

About Paul Capital Healthcare and Paul Capital

Through its funds, Paul Capital Healthcare is one of the largest dedicated healthcare investors globally, with more than $1.6 billion in equity capital commitments and debt facilities under management. Combined, the Paul Capital Healthcare funds have invested nearly $1.2 billion in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device sectors. These investments are focused on commercial stage companies and products, and consist of investments in the form of royalties, revenue interests, debt and equity. Additional information on Paul Capital Healthcare is available at www.paulcapitalhealthcare.com. Paul Capital manages nearly $7.3 billion in capital commitments for its three investment platforms, which include Paul Capital Healthcare, Private Equity Secondary Funds and Top Tier Fund-of-Funds. The firm has offices in New York, San Francisco, Paris, London, Hong Kong, and São Paolo.

Dyax Disclaimer

This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements regarding potential milestone payments under the Xyntha agreement, Dyax’s phage display Licensing and Funded Research Program (LFRP), the LFRP’s potential to generate future revenues and the potential for Dyax’s licensees to bring products to market. 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 that may affect the extent of Dyax’s patent portfolio and its potential for the identification of novel compounds include the risks that: Dyax may not be able to obtain and maintain intellectual property protection for its phage display technology; others may develop technologies superior to Dyax’s phage display technology; and other risks that are 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. Any milestone payments due to Dyax under the Xyntha agreement will be based on sales of Xyntha in 2010 and 2011, which are subject to market conditions and outside of Dyax’s control. 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.