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Lonza and ALSA Ventures Colloboration: ALSA Ventures, a London based European biotech investment firm, and Lonza, a global development and manufacturing partner to the pharma, biotech and nutrition industries, announced today a framework collaboration agreement to help ALSA’s portfolio of pre-clinical and early clinical biotechs develop and manufacture biologics and small molecule drug candidates.
The biopharmaceutical industry is experiencing a global shift towards new molecular formats and more complex molecules, including bi- and multispecific antibodies, fusion proteins, and various types of bioconjugates. In addition, small molecules continue to play a vital role in innovative treatments. As these therapies gain complexity in their applications and properties, unique challenges related to their bioavailability and handling arise. Developing and manufacturing these increasingly complex modalities requires sophisticated facility design and expertise, which is often challenging to establish in-house.
The new framework collaboration will support with due diligence into ALSA’s potential investments, which will assist with their investment de-risking. It will also provide a unique opportunity for ALSA Ventures’ portfolio companies to leverage Lonza’s experience in supporting accelerated development and manufacturing projects, global network and regulatory competence. Lonza’s tailored offering includes early de-risking, development and manufacturing, and optimization services for large molecule biologics, bioconjugates and complex proteins, as well as small molecules.
Pnina Weitz, Global Head of Venture Capital Business Development and Relationship Management, Lonza, commented: “Our framework agreement with ALSA Ventures will provide support for ALSA’s portfolio companies during the development and manufacturing of their innovative therapies based on a wide range of biologics and small molecules formats. The collaboration aims to significantly increase the chances for the future success of these therapies by providing early de-risking and development and manufacturing services tailored to each molecule’s unique needs and properties.”
Alek Safarian, CEO of ALSA Ventures, added: “This framework agreement is a vital piece of the support ecosystem ALSA is developing to assist portfolio companies. Lonza’s comprehensive approach to development and manufacturing new treatments across multiple platforms will allow our early-stage portfolio companies to access the best support and expertise available from the earliest stages of development.”
Lonza is a preferred global partner to the pharmaceutical, biotech and nutrition markets. We work to enable a healthier world by supporting our customers to deliver new and innovative medicines that help treat a wide range of diseases. We achieve this by combining technological insight with world-class manufacturing, scientific expertise and process excellence. Our unparalleled breadth of offerings enables our customers to commercialize their discoveries and innovations in the healthcare industry.
Founded in 1897 in the Swiss Alps, today, Lonza operates across five continents. With approximately 16,000 employees (full-time equivalent), we comprise high-performing teams and individual talent who make a meaningful difference to our own business, as well as to the communities in which we operate. The company generated sales of CHF 5.4 billion with a CORE EBITDA of CHF 1.7 billion in Full-Year 2021.
ALSA Ventures is a life science venture capital investor, focused on early-stage novel therapeutics. With a strong operations background in drug development, the team seeks to bring together outstanding entrepreneurs and world class academic researchers to help bring promising new treatments to market. ALSA invests across a wide spectrum of therapeutic areas, targeting high unmet need with impactful outcomes for patients and society at large.
