- Lonza has acquired the rights to Nona Biosciences’ transferrin receptor (TfR1) blood-brain barrier technology and expanded its strategic collaboration to develop next-generation blood-brain barrier delivery technologies.
- The agreement enables Lonza to offer the technology to central nervous system therapy developers while integrating it with its biologics development and CDMO capabilities.
Lonza has acquired the rights to Nona Biosciences’ transferrin receptor (TfR1) blood-brain barrier (BBB) technology and expanded its strategic collaboration with the company to develop next-generation BBB delivery technologies. The acquired technology will be made immediately available to developers of central nervous system (CNS) therapies.
The agreement expands Lonza’s capabilities to support developers addressing one of the key challenges in CNS drug development: delivering therapeutic molecules across the blood-brain barrier. The company plans to combine the acquired technology with its biologics development platforms, including the GS Gene Expression System® and GlycoConnect® bioconjugation technology, alongside its integrated CDMO and contract manufacturing services.
According to Lonza, the collaboration builds on an earlier research partnership that validated Nona’s BBB-crossing technology. The companies said preclinical studies demonstrated improved brain delivery using Nona’s TfR1-binding single-domain VHH technology compared with an industry benchmark in a relevant transgenic model. Lonza said the agreement is intended to support customers developing complex biologics for CNS disorders while advancing future BBB delivery technologies through its continued collaboration with Nona.
“With the fully acquired IP rights to Nona’s BBB-crossing technology and through our continued collaboration, we are immediately enabling our customers to translate promising CNS assets into viable therapeutics.”
Peter Droc, Head of Licensing at Lonza
Lonza said the acquisition strengthens its portfolio of enabling technologies for biologics developers by combining proprietary drug delivery technologies with integrated development and commercial manufacturing capabilities for CNS therapies.
