Basel, Switzerland, 25 November 2009 – Lonza Group Ltd, a market leading custom manufacturer of Biopharmaceuticals, announces that it has entered into an agreement with Micromet, Inc. for the process development and manufacture of Micromet’s blinatumomab (MT103). Micromet is a biopharmaceutical company developing novel, proprietary antibodies for the treatment of cancer, inflammation and autoimmune diseases.
Under the terms of the agreement, Lonza will manufacture blinatumomab for clinical trials. In addition, Lonza will develop the commercial scale process and will supply blinatumomab for the market if so requested by Micromet.
Blinatumomab (MT103) is a BiTE antibody for the treatment of various hematologic cancers. Blinatomumab has achieved the primary endpoint in a phase 2 clinical trial for the treatment of patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), and has shown significant clinical activity in an ongoing phase 1 clinical trial for the treatment of patients with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL).
About Lonza
Lonza is one of the world’s leading suppliers to the pharmaceutical, healthcare and life science industries. Its products and services span its customers’ needs from research to final product manufacture. Lonza is the global leader in the production and support of active pharmaceutical ingredients both chemically as well as biotechnologically. Biopharmaceuticals are one of the key growth drivers of the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. Lonza has strong capabilities in large and small molecules, peptides, amino acids and niche bioproducts which play an important role in the development of novel medicines and healthcare products. Lonza is a leader in cell-based research, endotoxin detection and cell therapy manufacturing. Lonza is also a leading provider of value chemical and biotech ingredients to the nutrition, hygiene, preservation, agro and personal care markets.
Lonza is headquartered in Basel, Switzerland and is listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange. In 2008, Lonza had sales of CHF 2.937 billion. Further information can be found at www.lonza.com.
About Micromet, Inc.
Micromet, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company developing novel, proprietary antibodies for the treatment of cancer, inflammation and autoimmune diseases. Its product development pipeline includes novel antibodies generated with its proprietary BiTE® antibody platform, as well as conventional monoclonal antibodies. Two of Micromet’s BiTE antibodies and three of its conventional antibodies are currently in clinical trials. Micromet’s preclinical product pipeline includes several novel BiTE antibodies generated with its proprietary BiTE antibody platform technology. Micromet’s collaboration partners include sanofi-aventis, Bayer Schering Pharma, Nycomed, Merck Serono, and MedImmune.
