Lonza Enters Long-term Bioconjugation Collaboration

Lonza entered a long-term, strategic collaboration for bioconjugation with a global biopharma company, under which, Lonza will construct two new customer-dedicated conjugation suites for the commercialization of antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) at its Visp (CH) site.

As part of Lonza’s Ibex Dedicate model, two bioconjugation suites totaling 1500m2 of active manufacturing space will be built out within a pre-existing shell. The new suites will also benefit from established quality control (QC) labs, logistics and other central services, allowing for faster ramp-up times, assured delivery and high performance.

The high throughput bioconjugation suites will be capable of handling highly-potent materials for cancer therapies and will initially manufacture two therapies. The new dedicated facility will employ approximately 200 staff, with operations expected to start at the end of 2022.

ADC’s represent an innovative therapeutic modality that is growing rapidly and providing effective therapies with reduced side effects. ADC’s usually combine an antibody with a highly-potent payload 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’s Ibex Dedicate model is designed to de-risk the development and manufacturing of bioconjugates and now supports the majority of commercially approved ADCs. In addition, Lonza also offers all elements of a complex supply chain, including manufacturing of biomolecule, synthetic payload, linker and subsequent conjugation at a single site.