Dyax falls on DX-88 delay

Dyax (NASDAQ:DYAX) fell $0.41 (11%) to $3.35 on Monday after it said the planned closure of its clinical research provider, BattelleCRO Inc., is expected to push back the completion of Dyax's rolling BLA for DX-88 for hereditary angioedema (HAE) to early 4Q08 from mid-year. Dyax said it is transferring its clinical database to another clinical research service. The company also said it completed the double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase III EDEMA4 trial of DX-88 to treat HAE in 96 patients with hereditary angioedema (HAE). DX-88 is a yeast-derived recombinant plasma kallikrein inhibitor.

Separately, competitor Jerini (Xetra:JI4) said it will submit a complete response to an April FDA not approvable letter for Firazyr icatibant for HAE within the next three to four months. Jerini has rights to the selective peptidomimetic bradykinin B2 receptor antagonist from sanofi-aventis (Euronext:SAN; NYSE:SNY). On Monday, Jerini was off EUR 0.01 to EUR 3.17. ...