Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc. has signed a non-exclusive research license agreement providing access to Lonza’s GS Xceed Gene Expression System for the generation of stable expression cell lines for the production and development of therapeutic antibodies.
 
Sorrento will use the GS technology for its maturing pipeline of therapeutic antibodies in oncology, inflammation, and infectious disease, including the production of antibodies targeting the vascular epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR2), an important target for several solid tumor indications. Also, several monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) will be produced and developed under the agreement, including Sorrento’s lead
anti-PD-L1 and anti-PD-1 antibodies, as well as a selection of difficult-to-obtain
anti-chemokine receptor mAbs.
 
“We are excited to license Lonza’s GS Xceed System for the development of our lead human therapeutic antibody programs,” said Henry Ji, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer of Sorrento Therapeutics. “The speed and ease of use of the GS Xceed System will aid in the rapid selection of high-producing cell lines and accelerate the production and development of our most promising therapeutic candidates.”
 
“We look forward to supporting Sorrento’s efforts to expand and develop its pipeline of promising new therapeutic candidates,” said Karen Fallen, vice president of Licensing and Technology, Lonza Development Services. “The GS Xceed System is an innovative and robust expression system derived from our industry-leading original GS System optimized through years of process development expertise.”