Lonza's clinical-stage biotechnology company, Synaffix, has licensed its ADC technology to BigHat Biosciences.
With the help of Synaffix's clinical-stage platform technology and its proprietary ML antibody design platform, BigHat will develop a novel pipeline of ADCs for oncological indications.
Under the terms of the agreement, BigHat will receieve target-specific access to Synaffix's ADC platform, which aims to optimise the antibody development and commercialisation process.
Because Lonza acquired Synaffix in 2023, BigHat will also have access to Lonza's end-to-end ADC offering, meaning that the company will have access to cGMP/non-cGMP ADC batches leading up to the first clinical trial.
BigHat's AI/machine learning-powered antibody design platform, Milliner, combines a synthetic biology-based, high-speed wet lab with machine learning technologies into an antibody discovery and engineering platform.
This allows the company to engineer antibodies with more complex functions and properties, while also reducing the difficulty of designing these biologics.
BigHat's next-gen ADC programme is currently at the IND-enabling stage, as is on track to be the company's first clinical-stage programme.
Head of Synaffix, Peter van de Sande, said: “The ADC space continues to develop and evolve, and our collaboration with BigHat exemplifies the continued strength and appeal of our best-in-class ADC technology. We are excited to be at the forefront of next-generation ADC R&D by joining forces with BigHat and its AI/ML-enabled antibody discovery and development platform, BigHat is the ideal partner for Synaffix to collaborate with. We look forward to supporting BigHat with every step in the ADC development and manufacturing process under the Lonza umbrella.”
Jean-Christophe Hyvert, President, Biologics, Lonza, added: “We are pleased to announce this collaboration with BigHat for its next-gen ADC molecule, which shows how drug developers can benefit from a fully integrated suite of services across our Biologics division. The Lonza network has continued to adapt to the evolving ADC landscape, including the recent addition of a highly potent vial fill capability at our Stein (CH) facility. This dedicated ADC drug product capacity expansion completes our offer for comprehensive, end-to-end development and manufacturing services for ADCs, simplifying the path from DNA-to-IND and beyond for our customers.”
Mark DePristo, CEO at BigHat Biosciences, commented: "BigHat is leveraging our AI-driven antibody design platform, Milliner™, to develop advanced biologics that provide safer and more effective treatments for difficult-to-treat cancers. We are excited to combine Synaffix’s conjugation and linker-payload technologies with our custom-designed antibody to create a next-generation ADC for patients with high unmet medical need."
