Benzinga | Apr 14, 2021 08:06AM EDT

aTyr Pharma And Lonza Announce Manufacturing Agreement For aTyr's Anti-NRP2 Antibody ATYR2810; Financial Terms Not Disclosed

aTyr Pharma, Inc. (NASDAQ:LIFE), a biotherapeutics company engaged in the discovery and development of innovative medicines based on novel biological pathways, and Lonza today announced that the companies have entered into an agreement for the manufacture of ATYR2810, aTyr's monoclonal antibody targeting Neuropilin-2 (NRP2) that is currently in preclinical development for cancer.



Under the terms of the agreement, Lonza will utilize its Ibex(r) Design, a fully integrated end-to-end program, to manufacture cGMP material for ATYR2810. The agreement will cover the early stages from gene to Investigational New Drug (IND) and will provide both drug substance (DS) and drug product (DP) to support toxicological studies in animals and early clinical development in humans.

The scope will include process support, including cell line development, process development, and supply chain simplification, to DS and DP manufacturing at Lonza's Visp and Stein (CH) sites.

"As we prepare to advance ATYR2810 to clinical stage development, we are pleased to work with Lonza, a partner with extensive and proven capability in antibody manufacturing, for the production of our first anti-NRP2 antibody," said Sanjay S. Shukla, M.D., M.S., President and Chief Executive Officer of aTyr. "Having recently initiated IND-enabling activities for ATYR2810 following some compelling preclinical data in triple-negative breast cancer, strengthened by additional data in lung cancer, this agreement with Lonza reflects our commitment to this program and will support our efforts to eventually advance ATYR2810 to in-patient trials in cancer, including certain aggressive tumors where NRP2 is implicated."

"We look forward to supporting aTyr as they advance their novel therapeutic antibody from preclinical stages into the clinic. This collaboration signifies our commitment and flexibility in accommodating the specific and unique needs of small biotech companies," said Jennifer Cannon, Senior Vice President, Global Head of Mammalian Biologics, Lonza.