HJB, a biologics contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO), announced that its partner Mabspace Biosciences has received Investigational New Drug (IND) clearance from both the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and China National Medical Products Administration (NMPA), for a humanized Claudin18.2 monoclonal antibody program.
 
Per the development and manufacturing agreement between HJB and Mabspace Bioscience, HJB provided one-stop shop end-to-end CMC package for the Claudin18.2 antibody, from DNA synthesis, process development, DS and DP GMP manufacturing to CMC dossier preparation for IND.  
 
“We are thrilled to have achieved dual-filing in such a short time. This is truly a great milestone for us,” said Xueming Qian, founder and chief executive officer, MabSpace Biosciences. “HJB’s one-of-a-kind platform not only allowed us a speedy IND submission and clearance, but also added more values to our program. We are very excited to have the opportunity to test this differentiated Claudin18.2 antibody in cancer patients and bring more efficacious treatment options to cancer patients around the world.”
 
Jerry Yang, general manager, CDMO business, HJB, said, “It is fundamental to our CDMO business to create values for our partners. In this case, our efficient and innovative development and manufacturing platform successfully shortened the total program time and further increased the molecule’s biological activity independent of molecule engineering which is typically how other companies approach the challenge and often leads to freedom-to-operate limitations later on.”
 
HJB’s platform approach was proven highly adaptable and robust during this program. After receiving DNA sequence in September 2018, HJB significantly increased this antibody’s ADCC activity through process optimization, delivered GLP toxicology study material in 9 months and completed all CMC work required for FDA and NMPA filing in 14 months. The result dramatically accelerated the overall timeline and allowed the program to reach first-in-human milestone with high quality Phase I clinical material ahead of other competitors.
 
Since its facility’s first GMP run in mid-2018, HJB has taken on over 20 CDMO projects, delivered 15 batches of GMP products and been recognized by its global partners for quality, reliability and speed. Currently, HJB’s capabilities include cell line and cell bank development, process and formulation development, technology transfer and optimization as well as GMP manufacturing, with three DS production lines (500 – 2000L) and a DP fill-and-finish line.