Agreement aims to make Dyax’s hereditary angioedema drug available in China

By Chris Reidy, Globe Staff

Dyax Corp. of Burlington is partnering with CVie Therapeutics as part of plan to make its hereditary angioedema drug available in China, Hong Kong, and Macau.

The drug, Kalbitor, is currently marketed in United States for the treatment of acute attacks of hereditary angioedema, or HAE, in patients 16 years of age and older. According to Dyax’s website, HAE is a rare disease of the immune system, affecting an estimated 1 in 10,000 to 1 in 50,000 people around the world.

Gustav Chistensen. Photo taken from the Dyax website.

The agreement disclosed in Thursday’s press release calls for CVie Therapeutics to develop amd commercialize Kalbitor in geographies covered by the partnership.

In turn, Dyax is in line to receive an upfront payment, and the company is also eligible to receive future development, regulatory and sales milestones as well as royalties on net product sales. The amounts of those payments were not included in the press release.

‘‘Our partnership with CVie is another milestone in our effort to expand the global development and commercialization of Kalbitor, and to reach HAE patients in need around the world,” Gustav Christensen, president and chief executive of Dyax, said in a statement. “If approved, Kalbitor would become the first novel therapy available for HAE in China, where presently only steroids are used.”