Kalbitor ecallantide

Drug: Kalbitor (ecallantide)
Indication: Sudden attacks of hereditary angioedema
Companies: Dyax
Approval Date: Nov. 27

Scoop: Last November the FDA approved Kalbitor for patients with hereditary angioedema, a rare and often lethal genetic disease characterized by pain and swelling in the face, lungs and upper airway. The approval marked a big win for Dyax, which has gone $335 million in the red as it pursued clinical development work. Kalbitor will be the 14-year-old biotech company's first marketed therapy. Dyax also licenses out its phage display technology to researchers.