Wednesday, December 08, 2021
Zhejiang Doer Biologics Co., Ltd., and Lonza, a global development and manufacturing partner to the pharma, biotech and nutrition industries, have entered into a research license agreement for Doer Biologics to use Lonza’s XS Technologies® offering for production of its proprietary MultipleBody® and SMART-VHHBody platform technology. Doer Biologics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of multi-domain-based, multi-specific innovative protein drugs in the fields of cancer, endocrinology, metabolic diseases, and ophthalmology.
The license secures Doer Biologics’ access to Lonza's XS® Pichia Expression System, providing for the development of scalable, robust, and reliable expression processes. This will enable Doer Biologics to develop, express, and manufacture multi-specific VHH based biotherapeutic proteins to address unmet medical needs in the field of immuno-oncology. Doer Biologics noted early success with the Lonza XS® Pichia Expression System in their lab and are pursuing further developments.
Peter Droc, Head of Licensing and Drug Product Services, Lonza, commented: “Next-generation therapies always demand a new take on expression systems. At Lonza, we have continued developing a toolbox of expression systems that help accommodate industry trends, eliminate production bottlenecks, align downstream processing and drive breakthroughs in the clinic. Doer Biologics has innovative R&D pipelines for VHH antibodies and we believe this agreement will further accelerate their candidates from pre-clinical study to commercial manufacturing.”
Dr. Yanshan Huang, founder and CEO, Zhejiang Doer Biologics Co. Ltd, added: “Multi-specific biologics often show stronger potency, extended half-life, improved therapeutic window, and higher developability compared to single-target antibodies. However, designing and developing new multi-specific antibodies represents a central challenge for the realization of new immunotherapies. Access to Lonza’s proprietary expression technology will enable us to progress our proprietary MultipleBody® and SMART-VHHBody platform by providing high-yielding processes for our candidates. We believe that we can develop high-quality VHH based multi-specific biotherapeutics in a faster and lower-cost fashion with Lonza’s XS® Pichia Expression System.”
For more details on XS Technologies® visit https://pharma.lonza.com/xstechnologies
About Lonza
Lonza is the preferred global partner to the pharmaceutical, biotech and nutrition markets. We work to enable a healthier world by supporting our customers to deliver new and innovative medicines that help treat a wide range of diseases. We achieve this by combining technological insight with world-class manufacturing, scientific expertise and process excellence. Our unparalleled breadth of offerings enables our customers to commercialize their discoveries and innovations in the healthcare sector.
Founded in 1897 in the Swiss Alps, today, Lonza operates across five continents. With approximately 15,000 employees, we comprise high-performing teams and individual talent that make a meaningful difference to our own business, as well as to the communities in which we operate. The company generated sales of CHF 2.5 billion with a CORE EBITDA of CHF 847 million in H1 2021. Find out more at www.lonza.com
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Lonza Group Ltd has its headquarters in Basel, Switzerland, and is listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange. It has a secondary listing on the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Limited (“SGX-ST”). Lonza Group Ltd is not subject to the SGX-ST’s continuing listing requirements but remains subject to Rules 217 and 751 of the SGX-ST Listing Manual.
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