Lonza, a global manufacturing partner to the pharma, biotech and nutrition industries, and AbTis, a Korean biotechnology company dedicated to the development of antibody drug conjugates (ADC), announced today that the companies are collaborating to advance the precision of bioconjugation strategies for novel bioconjugates-based therapies.

The collaboration will connect Lonza’s Bioconjugates toolbox, an offering consisting of tailored solutions for the technology selection, development and manufacturing of bioconjugates, to AbTis’ AbClick® platform. This novel bioconjugation platform relies on a novel site-specific conjugation which can be used to conjugate various payloads to native monoclonal antibodies (mAbs). The AbClick® utilizes a cyclic peptide that binds to a specific site of the mAb, leading to precise conjugation and improved stability of the resulting antibody-drug conjugates. The linker creates an isopeptide bond with a nearby lysine, providing improved stability and cleavage resistance.

AbTis will gain access to Lonza’s integrated offering for bioconjugates and leverage expertise in developing and manufacturing bioconjugates.

Jean-Christophe Hyvert, President, Biologics, Lonza, commented: “The innovative AbClick® platform of AbTis represents a unique and efficient way of site-selective conjugation of different payloads to native proteins. It is an excellent addition to our Bioconjugates Toolbox, serving customers facing challenges related to the use of native mAbs to develop novel bioconjugates, such as ADCs.”

Sang Jeon Chung, CEO, AbTis, added: “We are excited to collaborate with Lonza to provide access to our ADC platform linker technology (AbClick®) through the Lonza Bioconjugates Toolbox. AbClick® enables site-selective conjugation to native, off-the-shelf antibodies with stable linkers and provides improved timelines and high therapeutic indexes of the resulting ADCs. Through the collaboration with Lonza, drug developers will gain an opportunity to use a powerful tool to speed up the overall conjugation and development process. In addition, AbTis' technology enables the development of ADCs with a high therapeutic index, which may directly translate into better clinical outcomes.”