GSK signs agreement with Lonza

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK; Brentford, U.K.; www.gsk.com) and Lonza (Basel, Switzerland; www.lonza.com) today announced that they have entered into a new agreement under which Lonza will support the ongoing development of GSK’s biopharmaceutical pipeline by supplying manufacturing capacity for five early stage monoclonal antibodies. Under the terms of the agreement, Lonza will initially manufacture clinical trial batches of five compounds currently in Phase 1 and 2 for GSK. Lonza will also provide access to flexible capacity to enable GSK to respond to future demand dependent upon progression of molecules through late stage development and commercial launch. All other details of the agreement remain confidential. “We believe this is a critical step in the ongoing and future success of GSK in biopharmaceuticals”, says Ian Tomlinson, head of Biopharm Research and Development, GSK. “Our goal is to establish a portfolio of biopharmaceutical products that by 2015 consistently exceeds 20% of our R&D pipeline. To make this a reality we need to ensure that we have the right resources in place, which include flexible and expert manufacturing capabilities, to enable us to ultimately create and deliver these future medicines…