Lonza, the world’s leading contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO), announced it has acquired the rights to Nona Biosciences’ (“Nona”) transferrin receptor (TfR1) blood-brain barrier (BBB) technology and expanded its strategic collaboration with Nona to develop next-generation BBB technologies. Under the agreement, Lonza will make the BBB technology available immediately to central nervous system (CNS) therapy developers while continuing to work with Nona to advance future BBB delivery solutions.
The blood-brain barrier is a highly selective protective system that limits the ability of many therapeutic molecules to reach the brain. While essential for safeguarding brain function, it presents a major obstacle to developing effective treatments for CNS disorders and addressing unmet patient needs.
Through this agreement, Lonza is expanding its capabilities to support customers developing next-generation CNS therapies in addressing effective delivery of such molecules to the brain. By combining advanced BBB-crossing technologies with its biologics development expertise, including its industry-leading GS Gene Expression System® and GlycoConnect® bioconjugation technology, Lonza aims to provide customers with new tools to address complex drug delivery challenges and advance promising CNS therapeutic candidates. The agreement further strengthens Lonza’s position as a partner of choice for companies developing complex biologics by combining proprietary enabling technologies with integrated development and manufacturing services.
The relationship is rooted in a prior research collaboration between the two companies that has validated Nona’s BBB-crossing technology. Preclinical data shows that Nona’s TfR1-binding single-domain VHH technology, either as IgG fusion or by conjugation with Lonza’s GlycoConnect® technology, improved brain delivery versus a leading industry benchmark in a relevant transgenic model.
As investment in CNS therapies accelerates, developers are increasingly seeking robust technologies capable of consistent and targeted delivery through the blood-brain barrier. Lonza’s acquired technology is designed to help customers to accelerate innovation, expand development opportunities, and bring potentially life-changing treatments to patients worldwide.
Peter Droc, Head of Licensing, Lonza, commented: “With the fully acquired IP rights to Nona’s BBB-crossing technology and through our continued collaboration, we are immediately enabling our customers to translate promising CNS assets into viable therapeutics. By combining this with flexible CDMO services, we allow partners to engage with us at any stage of their journey – from technology licensing to fully integrated development and commercial manufacturing – reducing complexity and helping accelerate the path to patients.”
Ulrich Osswald, Vice President, Global Innovation, Lonza, added: “The TfR1 BBB technology significantly expands our toolkit to address one of the toughest challenges in modern medicine: delivering biologics to the brain consistently. In vivo results of the binders demonstrated superior brain penetration, increased neuronal uptake, and even more extensive brain parenchyma distribution compared to the industry benchmark. Together with our expertise in antibody engineering and bioconjugation, this creates a powerful approach to support the development of next-generation CNS therapeutics.”
Dr. Di Hong, Chief Executive Officer of Nona, added: “We are excited to support Lonza to develop and commercialize high quality single-domain antibody–based BBB-crossing technologies for CNS diseases. This collaboration underscores the power and versatility of our HCAb Harbour Mice® platform and its ability to generate differentiated, fully human single-domain binders that can tackle the most challenging delivery barriers in drug development. By combining our technology with Lonza’s services and development and manufacturing expertise, we are confident to offer next-generation BBB shuttle solutions that can unlock new treatment paradigms for patients suffering from devastating CNS disorders.”
