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Lonza have announced an expansion of its service offering for spray-drying of proteins for pulmonary delivery. The new offering provides clinical and commercial manufacturing services at a kilogram scale from Lonza’s Bend (US) site, home to Lonza’s Centre of Excellence for respiratory delivery.
In the past, the respiratory drug pipeline was primarily dominated by small molecules. Today, approximately 30% of therapies in this pipeline are biologics, with anticipated growth to 50% by 2030. The administration of protein-based therapies to treat respiratory disease has historically been limited to intravenous or subcutaneous injections, which require frequent and costly administration and rely on patient compliance. The focused and local delivery method of a solid protein formulation to the lung offers a viable alternative that can also reduce dose and off-target exposure. Shelf-stable dry powder inhalers improve patient access worldwide by reducing reliance on cold chain logistics.
Kimberly Shepard, Director, Respiratory Delivery, Lonza, commented: “Pulmonary delivery of solid protein formulations using a dry powder inhaler is a growing trend among drug developers. Our new clinical offering further strengthens our world-leading spray-drying expertise and provides manufacturing capacity from early-phase to commercial supply. This expertise and capability enable our customers to bring innovative new medicines to patients with unmet medical needs.”
Building on more than 20 years of experience in spray-drying of biologics, such as monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), oligonucleotides and peptides, Lonza now offers spray-drying of biologics for clinical supply and beyond. The services are provided from Lonza Bend, a Center of Excellence for bioavailability enhancement and inhaled delivery, focused on advancing spray-drying of small molecules and biologics.