Iconovo and Lonza signs LOI regarding strategic collaboration
Iconovo AB (publ.) today announces that it has signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) with Lonza with the aim of forging a lasting strategic collaboration in the area “spray dried formulation” capabilities, which is crucial to drug formulation of biologics suitable for inhalation.
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 of five inhalers. Lonza is one of the world’s largest contract development and manufacturing organizations (CDMOs), 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.
“The parties have so far reached the signing of a Letter of Intent. The next step is to inventory a list of potential projects for collaboration and more specifically agree on the terms of a possibly extended collaboration in this strategic area”, says Anders Månsson, interim CEO of Iconovo.
Jan Vertommen, Vice President, Commercial Development, Advanced Synthesis, Lonza, says: “We also consider inhalable Biologics to be an area of great interest, and we look forward to exploring the possibilities of extending our collaboration with Iconovo”
Two of Iconovos inhalers, ICOres® and ICOpre® are developed as substitutable generic products for Symbicort Turbuhaler by AstraZeneca and the Ellipta Portfolio by GSK respectively. Together these portfolios have a global turnover of ca. USD 9 Billion.
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, in which oral formulations such as tablets are often notoriously difficult if not impossible to develop with adequate bioavailability for clinical effectiveness.
Biologics is therefore an area 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.