Burlington, Mass.-based biopharmaceutical company Dyax has granted Eclipse Therapeutics, a privately held oncology company of San Diego, exclusive worldwide license for the development and commercialization of preclinical fully-human antibodies discovered using Dyax's gold-standard phage display technology for use in oncology indications.

In exchange, Dyax will receive an initial license fee, payments upon the achievement of clinical development and sales milestones, and royalties on worldwide net sales resulting from commercialized products.

"This agreement provides Eclipse with multiple high-value antibody candidates targeting cancer stem cells (CSC) developed using Eclipse's unique CSC Rx Discovery platform and Dyax's proven phage display technology," said Peter Chu, Ph.D., president and co-founder of Eclipse. "Our oncology pipeline focuses on identifying functional therapeutics that specifically inhibit CSC targets critical to the maintenance of cancer stem cells at the root of cancer. Dyax's expertise in antibody therapeutic discovery accelerates these efforts, allowing us to expand our library of product candidates."

Gustav A. Christensen, president and CEO of Dyax, added, "This agreement further underscores the significant long-term potential of our robust licensing and funded research program, which continues to be a key driver of near- and long-term value creation for Dyax with 18 therapeutic candidates currently in the clinic, including four in phase III and four in phase II."