UPDATE 1-Dyax cuts 60 jobs; sees Q1 charge

* Sees charge of $2 mln in Q1

* Sees annual savings of $18 mln

March 30 (Reuters) - Dyax Corp (DYAX.O) said it cut 60 jobs, effective immediately, to focus on the commercialization of its lead product candidate, and would take a charge of about $2 million in the first quarter.

According to a regulatory filing, the company had 164 employees worldwide as of Dec. 31.

Last week, U.S. health regulators denied approval to Dyax's experimental lead product, DX-88, for the treatment for a rare genetic disease in the present form and sought additional data on the safe use of the drug. [ID:nBNG366348]

DX-88, also known as ecallantide, is for the treatment of acute attacks of hereditary angioedema (HAE), a potentially life-threatening genetic disease characterized by painful swelling of the skin, intestine, mouth and throat.

The company said it expects to save about $18 million annually from its cost-cutting measures.

Shares of the company closed at $2.53 Monday on Nasdaq.

For the alerts double-click [ID:nWNAB8698] . (Reporting by Anand Basu in Bangalore; Editing by Deepak Kannan)