Kodiak Sciences, a biopharmaceutical company researching, developing and commercializing therapeutics to treat high prevalence retinal diseases, and Lonza, opened a new, custom-built, bioconjugation facility within Lonza’s Ibex Dedicate manufacturing complex in Visp, Switzerland.

The facility will play a key role in the scaled manufacturing of Kodiak’s lead therapeutic candidate KSI-301 to support a potential global commercial launch. Once fully operational and if KSI-301 is approved for commercial use, the facility is expected to have the capacity to supply over 10 million dose equivalents of KSI-301 annually. The strong relationship between Kodiak and Lonza has led to a multi-year commercial collaboration that has created 12 full-time positions at Kodiak Sciences in Visp and 70 positions at Lonza.

“The grand opening of Ursus, our dedicated bioconjugate facility, is an important milestone in our journey to develop medicines for patients in need worldwide,” said Victor Perlroth, CEO, Kodiak Sciences. “We are thankful to have our trusted partner Lonza, a global leader with the needed expertise, systems and production capacity, navigate the challenges of manufacturing and supplying KSI-301, our lead product candidate. We are also very appreciative of the long-standing support from the local community of Visp and the canton of Valais.”

Pierre-Alain Ruffieux, CEO, Lonza, said, “It is a privilege to work alongside Kodiak to develop this world-class suite for ophthalmic technologies through our innovative Ibex Dedicate offering. Our relationship with Kodiak has evolved over the last seven years, from the development of the antibody, to incorporating conjugation and now opening this dedicated suite. This journey reflects how our two businesses are able to work as one team towards a single purpose.”

The new dedicated bioconjugation facility will allow for rapid product launch and provide flexible commercial manufacturing capacity that can scale to meet market needs. Lonza will also utilize its global network of facilities, including Nansha, China and Visp to produce Kodiak’s biopolymer, and Portsmouth, NH to produce Kodiak’s monoclonal antibody.