Iconovo AB (publ.) announces today that it has signed a strategic collaboration agreement with Lonza on the basis of the Letter of Intent (LOI) announced in February of this year. The agreement aims to facilitate a lasting strategic collaboration in the area of “spray-dried formulation” capabilities, which is crucial to drug formulation suitability for inhalation of biologics, vaccines, and large molecules in general.
Iconovo is a leader in the development of inhalable drugs based on proprietary inhalers and dry powder formulations and has developed a versatile technology platform comprising five different types of powder inhaler devices. Lonza is the world’s leading contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO), dedicated to serving the healthcare industry.
The parties’ desire to enter into a more strategic long-term collaboration, solidifying their respective stakes in the field of biologics, and have signed a strategic collaboration agreement to that eAect.
“The parties have so far reached the signing of a strategic collaboration agreement outlining under what conditions and in what areas the parties will o er each other priority services and supplies. The currently signed agreement will serve as an umbrella agreement for project specific collaborations, which are projected to be added in the near-term future”, says Anders Månsson, CEO of Iconovo.
Jan Vertommen, Vice President, Commercial Development, Advanced Synthesis, Lonza, says: “We consider inhalable biologics utilizing our spray-drying technologies and expertise to be areas of great interest, and we look forward to extending our collaboration with Iconovo.”
Two of Iconovos inhalers platforms, ICOres® and ICOpre®, are developed as substitutable generic products. Iconovo also has three inhaler platforms, ICOcap®, ICOone® and ICOone® nasal that are predominantly thought of as inhaler platforms for novel and innovative formulation and reformulation of drugs into the inhaler-based form. This is especially pertinent in the field of biologics, vaccines, and large molecules in general, areas in which oral formulations such as tablets are often notoriously difficult if not impossible to develop with adequate bioavailability for clinical effectiveness.
Therefore, these areas are of growing importance in the inhalation business, given the clear patient preference for inhalation over injections, coupled with the abundance of patent expirations in the near- and mid-term for high-turnover biologics. In this area, having access to best-in-class “spray-dried formulation” capabilities is deemed to be of critical importance. This is the reason behind Iconovo’s choice to work with Lonza on its reformulated substance for an obesity project, and it is the reason behind both parties’ desire to enter into a more strategic long-term collaboration, solidifying their respective stakes in this area.