Celltech announces long-term microbial manufacturing agreement with Lonza

15-Jul-2003

Celltech Group plc announced that it 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 and Lonza also announce settlement of their CDP 571 manufacturing agreement

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 by Celltech's partner, Pfizer. Celltech has three further PEGylated antibody fragment products in development and a broad portfolio of research programmes utilising this technology.

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, at pre-agreed rates. 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, Chief Executive Officer 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.

Timely access to product supply is critical in meeting our goal of accelerating development of our exciting portfolio of antibody fragment-based products. This long-term agreement complements our existing manufacturing collaborations, ensuring we have a robust product supply for clinical development, and in the ultimate commercialisation of these products if successful.'

At the same time, Celltech and Lonza Biologics have reached settlement regarding the termination of their supply agreement for the production of Celltech's anti-TNF-alpha antibody, CDP 571, releasing Celltech from any further obligations under this contract. As highlighted in Celltech's 2002 annual report, this settlement will not result in any additional financial charges in its 2003 financial results.

https://www.bionity.com/en/news/25306/celltech-announces-long-term-microbial-manufacturing-agreement-with-lonza.html