The Dyax-Jerini showdown

Locked in a race to market with Jerini AG with rival compounds to treat hereditary angioedema (HAE), Dyax Corp. had been aiming to submit a BLA for its DX-88 recombinant kallikrein inhibitor protein next year. DYAX now doesn't expect a submission until after 2005, but still contends it will be first to market, even though Jerini says it will submit its BLA by the end of next year.

Earlier this year, DYAX (Cambridge, Mass.) had said that it hoped to file based on results of its Phase II EDEMA1 and EDEMA2 trials. However, CEO Henry Blair last week told BioCentury that "EDEMA2 may not be satisfactory because there's no placebo group. The two options are to modify EDEMA2 or to start a new trial."...