Lonza Houston, the viral gene and cell therapy-manufacturing unit of Lonza, has entered into a strategic manufacturing agreement with Selecta Biosciences, a Watertown, Masachusetts-based clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, under which Lonza will produce an Anc80-AAV-based gene therapy product for Selecta’s proprietary program for treating methylmalonic acidemia (MMA), a rare inborn error of metabolism.

Also under the agreement, Lonza may in the future produce other Anc80-based products for which Selecta holds exclusive options. The partnership will leverage Lonza’s expertise in developing industry-scale manufacturing platforms for viral-based products.

Data shows that Anc80-AAV, an in silico-designed synthetic gene therapy vector, has the potential to provide superior gene expression levels in retina, liver, muscle, cochlea’s outer hair cells and other tissue targets in preclinical studies, as well as reduced cross-reactivity as compared to naturally occurring adeno-associated viral vectors that are currently in clinical development.

Source: Lonza