Cambrex and Lilly Sign Agreement to Support Manufacturing for Biotech Collaborators

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Contract development and manufacturing organization Cambrex announced on Dec. 5, 2024 that it has signed an agreement with Eli Lilly and Company (Lilly) under which Cambrex will provide accelerated access to clinical development capabilities for Lilly's biotech collaborators.

Under the agreement, Cambrex will partner with Lilly's early external innovation and collaboration arm, Lilly Catalyze360-ExploR&D. Cambrex will provide drug substance, drug product, analytical service labs, and R&D expertise to biotech collaborators teamed with Lilly Catalyze360.

"We are excited to support Lilly's mission to enable external biotech collaborators to expedite their product development," said Brandon Fincher, president of Early Stage Development & Testing at Cambrex, in a company press release (1). "Our Longmont [Colorado] facility offers all services required to advance early stage small molecules into the clinic with speed, flexibility, and scientific excellence. We look forward to propelling Lilly Cataylze360 collaborators forward on an efficient path to success with their products."

Lilly Catalyze360 focuses on advancing science and supporting emerging medicines via investment and through its three pillars—Lilly Ventures, Lilly Gateway Labs, and Lilly ExploR&D. Under the agreement, Cambrex will partner with ExploR&D, which brings enterprise learning, scientific know-how, and best-in-class research and development capabilities to accelerate partner science, according to the company press release.

Primary services offered through the agreement will be conducted in the Longmont, Colo., facility. Additional support will be provided by Cambrex's network, as needed. Cambrex's Longmont facility specializes in the early development of investigational new drugs, from process development and drug substance manufacturing through to formulation development and drug product manufacturing. The facility houses capacity for non-good manufacturing practice (GMP) and current good manufacturing practice (CGMP) production. The site simultaneously provides full analytical development and CGMP testing support.

Cambrex also recently strengthened its process development capabilities when it formed a strategic collaboration with Atinary Technologies in September 2024 (2). Under this collaboration, Snapdragon Chemistry, a Cambrex company, will integrate Atinary’s AI-driven and automated process optimization technology with its own state-of-the-art laboratories and process development capabilities, which will allow Snapdragon to tackle complex challenges in drug development. Snapdragon specializes in API process development, with a focus on continuous flow process development, lab automation, and complex synthetic APIs.

Under the collaboration with Atinary, Snapdragon has integrated its proprietary LabOS software platform with Atinary’s SDLabs platform to build a fully automated and AI-driven, medium-throughput Solid-Phase Oligonucleotide Synthesizer (SPOS). The purpose of the SPOS is to enable autonomous multi-objective process optimizations. Atinary’s AI platform has enhanced Snapdragon’s process optimization campaign with significant improvements across tested applications. Snapdragon was able to demonstrate up to an 18% increase in product yield and a 22% reduction in cost compared to processes previously optimized by an experienced scientist (2).

“Atinary is committed to accelerating innovation and delivering cutting-edge solutions to our customers,” said Hermann Tribukait, PhD, co-founder and CEO of Atinary Technologies, in a company press release issued in September (2). “Our work with Snapdragon showcases the power of our AI and data-driven process to solve complex chemistry and molecular discovery challenges in the pharmaceutical and biotech industry, orders of magnitude faster than traditional methods.”

References

1. Cambrex. Cambrex Announces Strategic Agreement with Lilly to Support Biotech Collaborator Manufacturing. Press Release. Dec. 5, 2024.
2. Cambrex. Atinary Technologies Announces Strategic Collaboration with Snapdragon Chemistry, a Cambrex Company. Press Release. Sept. 26, 2024.to Support Biotech Collaborator Manufacturing. Press Release. Dec. 5, 2024.
2. Cambrex. Atinary Technologies Announces Strategic Collaboration with Snapdragon Chemistry, a Cambrex Company. Press Release. Sept. 26, 2024.