ten23 health has announced a research collaboration with dsm-firmenich aimed at expanding the range of excipients available for parenteral biologic drug products, addressing a key bottleneck in the development of injectable biologic medicines.

The collaboration seeks to tackle one of the long-standing challenges in biologic formulation development—the limited availability of excipients suitable for injectable therapies. 

As biologic drugs become increasingly complex, formulation scientists are under growing pressure to improve product stability, manufacturability and long-term performance while working with a relatively small pool of approved excipients.

Under the partnership, ten23 health is contributing its expertise in sterile formulation development, analytical characterization and pharmaceutical manufacturing, while dsm-firmenich is providing capabilities in pharmaceutical ingredient science, quality systems and regulatory support. 

Together, the companies are evaluating pharmaceutical-grade ingredients with established safety profiles as potential excipients for biologic formulations.

The research programme follows a structured scientific approach that includes proof-of-concept studies, benchmarking against currently used excipients, and evaluation in representative protein formulations using advanced analytical techniques. 

According to the companies, initial studies have identified several promising excipient candidates that are now undergoing further verification and characterization.

Prof. Dr. Andrea Allmendinger, Chief Scientific Officer at ten23 health, said, "Our approach has been to identify promising ingredients based on their safety profiles, regulatory acceptance, and suitability for biologic formulations. Following proof-of-concept studies and advanced analytical evaluation in representative protein formulations, we have generated promising initial data, which is now being further verified."