Celltech and Lonza tie up production deal
Celltech Group has entered into a long-term supply agreement with Lonza Biotec, a division of Lonza Group, under which Lonza Biotec will manufacture PEGylated antibody fragment-based drugs for Celltech at its microbial production facility.
Celltech has developed proprietary technology for the production of very high affinity antibody fragments in a microbial fermentation system. These antibody fragments are chemically modified using polyethylene glycol (PEG) to facilitate a long circulating half-life in patients. Celltech is developing products using this technology to address large disease markets such as rheumatoid arthritis and cancer.
The leading product using this technology, CDP 870, is currently being assessed in a large Phase III programme in rheumatoid arthritis with Pfizer. Celltech also has three further PEGylated antibody fragment products in development.
Under the terms of the agreement, Celltech has reserved at Lonza Biotec a fixed annual manufacturing capacity in its 1,000 litre and 15,000 litre fermenter systems for recombinant microbial products, covering the period 2004 to 2010. The agreement allows Celltech flexibility in scheduling to meet the clinical timelines for its portfolio of PEGylated antibody fragment-based development products. Lonza Biotec will provide technology transfer, scale-up, cGMP manufacturing and quality control testing services at its site in Visp, Switzerland.
Dr Goran Ando, ceo of Celltech, commented: 'Lonza has considerable experience in the production of biologicals built up over a number of years, and we are pleased to have extended our relationship with them into microbial production of our antibody fragment-based products.'