GHENT, Belgium – Ablynx [Euronext Brussels: ABLX], a pioneer in the discovery and development of Nanobodies®, a novel class of antibody-derived therapeutic proteins, announced today that its drug discovery and development alliance with Novartis has been extended for another year.

Under the terms of the agreement, entered into in December 2005, the companies are collaborating to discover and develop novel Nanobody®-based therapeutics against disease targets that are difficult to address with conventional antibodies or their fragments. Novartis has exclusive rights to develop and commercialise the Nanobody® products resulting from the collaboration.

This agreement was previously extended in December 2007 and, based on the positive progress made, the companies have mutually agreed to extend their alliance for another year.

As part of the collaboration Ablynx receives license fees and funding for research and development. In addition, Ablynx is eligible for milestone payments and royalties upon commercialisation.

Edwin Moses, CEO and Chairman of Ablynx, commented:

“We are very pleased with our collaboration with Novartis, one of the leading pharmaceutical companies with a significant track record in innovative drug development, and we look forward to continuing to work together with the goal to advance Nanobody®-based programmes into the clinic.”

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About Ablynx [Euronext Brussels: ABLX] – www.ablynx.com

Founded in 2001 in Ghent, Belgium, Ablynx is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of Nanobodies®, a novel class of therapeutic proteins based on single-domain antibody fragments, for a range of serious and life-threatening human diseases. The Company currently has over 200 employees. Ablynx completed a successful IPO on Euronext Brussels [ABLX] on 7 November 2007.

Ablynx is developing a portfolio of Nanobody®-based therapeutic programmes in a number of major disease areas, including inflammation, thrombosis, oncology and Alzheimer’s disease. Nanobodies® have been generated against more than 100 different disease targets. Importantly the Nanobodies® which naturally exist in llamas have a very high homology with humans.