ABLYNX ANNOUNCES AN EXTENSION OF ITS GLOBAL STRATEGIC NANOBODY ALLIANCE WITH BOEHRINGER INGELHEIM

GHENT, Belgium, 20 March 2012 - Ablynx [Euronext Brussels: ABLX] today announced a two- year extension of the initial five-year research funding by Boehringer Ingelheim of their global strategic alliance to discover, develop and commercialise up to 10 different Nanobody® therapeutics. The extension which will run until September 2014, will allow all the existing ten Nanobody programmes to advance to a stage where Boehringer Ingelheim can potentially progress each programme into development. Ablynx will receive a total of €6.6 million in additional research funding from Boehringer Ingelheim, some of which will be in advance. This payment is in return for work carried out by Ablynx's specialist Nanobody scientists. Ablynx has already received over €58 million from payments under the Strategic Alliance since it was signed in 2007.
In September 2007, Ablynx and Boehringer Ingelheim entered into a Strategic Alliance on the discovery, development and commercialisation of Nanobody therapeutics across a range of diseases, including oncology, immunology, and respiratory diseases. The agreement allows for potential milestone payments of up to €125 million plus royalties to Ablynx for each Nanobody which reaches market. Boehringer Ingelheim is exclusively responsible for the development, manufacturing and commercialisation of any products resulting from the collaboration. Ablynx retains certain co-promotion rights in Europe.
Dr Edwin Moses, CEO and Chairman of Ablynx, said:
"We are delighted to extend the current Strategic Alliance. As a result of this very successful collaboration, there are now two Nanobody programmes already in pre-clinical development and seven Nanobodies at various stages in discovery across multiple disease areas. In addition, as part of a separate collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim, there is a Nanobody relevant in Alzheimer's disease also at the pre-clinical development stage. We are very pleased to have eleven Nanobody programmes potentially able to make an important contribution to Boehringer Ingelheim's R&D pipeline."

About Ablynx

Ablynxis a biopharmaceutical company engaged in 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, including inflammation, haematology, oncology and pulmonary disease. Today, the Company has over 25 programmes in the pipelineand seven Nanobodies at clinical development stage. Ablynx has ongoing research collaborations and significant partnerships with major pharmaceutical companies, including
Boehringer Ingelheim, Merck Serono and Novartis. The Company is headquartered in Ghent, Belgium. More information can be found on www.ablynx.com.

For more information, please contact Ablynx:

Dr Edwin Moses
Chairman and CEO
t: +32 (0)9 262 00 07
m: +44 (0)7771 954 193 /
+32 (0)473 39 50 68
e: edwin.moses@ablynx.com
Marieke Vermeersch Investor Relations Manager t: +32 (0)9 262 00 82
m: +32 (0)479 49 06 03
e: marieke.vermeersch@ablynx.com

M:Communications:

Mary-Jane Elliott, Amber Bielecka, Claire Dickinson t: +44 207 920 2330
e: ablynx@mcomgroup.com

Certain statements, beliefs and opinions in this press release are forward-looking, which reflect the Company's or, as appropriate, the Company's directors' current expectations and projections about future events. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. These risks, uncertainties and assumptions could adversely affect the outcome and financial effects of the plans and events described herein. A multitude of factors including, but not limited to, changes in demand, competition and technology, can cause actual events, performance or results to differ significantly from any anticipated development. Forward looking statements contained in this press release regarding past trends or activities should not be taken as a representation that such trends or activities will continue in the future. As a result, the Company expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release any update or revisions to any forward-looking statements in this press release as a result of any change in expectations or any change in events, conditions, assumptions or circumstances on which these forward-looking statements are based. Neither the Company nor its advisers or representatives nor any of its or their parent or subsidiary undertakings or any such person's officers or employees guarantees that the assumptions underlying such forward-looking statements are free from errors nor does either accept any responsibility for the future accuracy of the forward-looking statements contained in this press release or the actual occurrence of the forecasted developments. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release.

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This press release was issued by Ablynx NV and was initially posted at http://www.ablynx.com/newsroom/openpdf.php?id=aHR0cDovL2N3cy5odWdpbm9ubGluZS5jb20vQS8xMzc5MTIvUFIvMj AxMjAzLzE1OTU4NjUueG1s . It was distributed, unedited and unaltered, by noodls on 2012-03-20 17:58:25 PM. The issuer is solely responsible for the accuracy of the information contained therein.