Lonza, a CDMO, extended its collaboration with a major biopharmaceutical partner for the commercial-scale manufacture of monoclonal antibodies, under a long-term agreement. At scale, and following product approval, the agreement will absorb a significant proportion of the capacity of the large-scale mammalian asset under construction in Visp, which will accommodate six 20,000L bioreactors. Together with other customers, approximately 75% of the facility’s available capacity is now reserved.
 
Under the agreement, Lonza provides highly potent payload, drug-linker and conjugation services. The large-scale supply of monoclonal antibodies reflects further supply chain simplification and the commercialization of a process established within the Lonza network.
 
Jean-Christophe Hyvert, President, Biologics and Cell & Gene Divisions, Lonza, said, “This expanded customer relationship truly exemplifies our value and capabilities as a strategic partner on the path to commercialization. We can offer an integrated and simplified supply chain, which provides security of supply and delivers economies of scale. We are proud to expand our partnership to deliver the commercial supply of this important class of molecule at our Ibex® biopark, which will help treat patients suffering from cancer.”
 
ADCs are bioconjugates and represent a growing, new therapeutic modality that provides effective therapies with reduced side effects. ADCs usually combine an antibody with a highly-potent payload (via a linker molecule) to target cancer cells. The antibody serves as the delivery method to target the toxic drug precisely to cancer cells, limiting toxicity to healthy cells.
 
Lonza developed the expertise and technology to de-risk the development and manufacturing of bioconjugates and supports the majority of commercially approved ADCs. Lonza offers the production of biomolecule, synthetic payload, linker and subsequent conjugation at its Visp (CH) site.