Doer Biologics signs licensing agreement with Lonza to develop multi-specific biotherapeutics using XS Pichia
2021.12.09
• Doer Biologics is utilizing its proprietary MultipleBody® and SMART-VHHBody technology platforms for developing multi-specific biotherapeutics to address unmet medical needs
• The license agreement will leverage Lonza's XS® Pichia Expression System for the production of this important class of medicines
Basel, Switzerland and Hangzhou, China, 8 December 2021- Zhejiang Doer Biologics Co., Ltd. ("Doer Biologics"), and Lonza, a global development and manufacturing partner to the pharma, biotech and nutrion industries, have entered into a research license agreement for Doer Biologics to use Lonza's XS Technologies® offering for production of its proprietary MultipleBody® and SMART-VHHBody plafform technology. Doer Biologics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the develpment of multi-domain-based, multi-specific innovative protein drugs in the fields of cancer, endocrinology, metabolic diseases, and ophthalmology.
The license secures Doer Biologics' access to Lonza's XS® Pichia Expression System, providing for the development of scalable, robust, and reliable expression precesses. This will enable Doer Biologics to develop, express, and manufacture multi-specific VHH based biotherapeutic proteins to address unmet medical needs in the field of immuno-oncology. Doer Biologics noted early success with the Lonza XS® Pichia Expression System in their lab and are pursuing further developments.
Peter Droc, Head of Licensing and Drug Producet Services, Lonza, commented: " Next-generation therapies always demand a new take on expression systems. At Lonza, we have continued developing a toolbox of expression systems that help accommodate industry trends, eliminate production bottlenecks, align downstream processing an drive breakthroughs in the clinic. Doer Biologics has innnovative R&D pipelines for VHH antibodies and we believe this agreement will further accelerate their candidates from pre-clinical study to commercial manufacturing."
Dr. Yanshan Huang, founder and CEO, Zhejiang Doer Biologics Co., Ltd, added:" Multi-specific biologics often show stronger potency, extended half-life, improved therapeutic window, and higher developability compared to single-target antibodies. However, designing and developing new multi-specific antibodies represents a central challenge for the realization of new inmmunotherapies. Accesst to Lonza's proprietary expression technology will enable us to progress our proprietary MultiBody® and SMART-VHHBody platform by provding high-yielding processes for our candidates. We believe that we can develop high-quality VHH based multi-specific biotherapeutics in a faster and lower-cost fashion with Lonza's XS® Pichia Expression System."
For more details on XS Technologies® visit https://pharma.lonza.com/xstechnologies
About Doer Biologics
Founded in 2012, Zhejiang Doer Biologics Co., Ltd is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company with its R&D center located in Hangzhou, China. Powered by its proprietary xLONGylation®, MultipleBody®, AccuBody®, and SMART-VHHBody technology plafforms, Doer Biologics is developing innovative multi-domain based in multi-specific therapeutic proteins. Doer Biologics' highly differentiated pipeline focuses on unmet clinical needs in the fields of cancer, endocrinology, merabolic diseases, and ophthalmology. To learn more about Doer Biologics, please visit the company website www.doerbio.com
About Lonza
Founded in 1897 in the Swiss Alps, today, Lonza operates across five continents. With approximately 15,000 employees, Lonza comprises high-performing teams and individual talent that make a meaningful difference to its business, as well as to the communities in which it operates. The company generated sales of CHF 2.5 billion with a CORE EBITDA of CHF 847 million in H1 2021. Find out more at www.lonza.com