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02/17/2005
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| Lonza and Biotest AG enter into Manufacturing Agreement |
| Lonza and Biotest AG have concluded a manufacturing agreement in January 2005 for further production of GMP grade consistency batches of Biotest's monoclonal antibody BT-061. |
The production, which has already commenced this week supplies Biotest with material for further clinical studies. In addition, this agreement opens up the option on future large scale production with the technological leader Lonza.
BT-061 is directed against a novel target on T-cells mediating a unique, immunoregulatory mechanism of action. The candidate is Biotest's most advanced monoclonal antibody and has shown tolerability and efficacy in early clinical trials in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. With the clinical material produced by Lonza Biologics, Slough, UK, development will continue in rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis.
"After BT-061 had shown promising efficacy in rheumatoid arthritis, it was important to establish a production system with favourable process economics. The alliance with Lonza is a crucial step to achieve this goal. Biotest's high-yield expression system combined with Lonza's technology platform for monoclonal antibody production provides the basis for competitive cost of goods and guarantees the supply for long-term treatment of chronical diseases," said Frank Osterroth, Head of Monoclonal Antibody Projects of Biotest.
About Lonza
Lonza is a life sciences driven company, headquartered in Switzerland, which generated sales of CHF 2.18 billion in 2004. It operates 18 production and R&D facilities in eight countries and employs 5670 people worldwide. Lonza is one of the leading custom manufacturers of biopharmaceuticals for the pharmaceutical and agrochemical industries as well as chemical intermediates and active ingredients.
In Biopharmaceuticals Lonza is the partner of choice in developing and manufacturing therapeutic monoclonal antibodies and recombinant proteins from mammalian cell cultures as well as microbial biopharmaceuticals such as antibody fragments and other recombinant proteins from microbial cultures.
About Biotest AG
Biotest AG, Dreieich, is a fully integrated pharmaceutical and diagnostics company with approximately 1.000 employees world-wide. Biotest is specialized in the development, production and marketing of therapeutic and diagnostic systems with a focus on clinical immunology, autoimmune diseases, haematology and intensive care medicine. The product portfolio includes human plasma derivatives such as immunoglobulin preparations and blood factors as well as test systems for cell diagnosis, transfusion diagnosis and tests for hygiene monitoring. In addition to further innovative plasma derivatives, Biotest's therapeutic pipeline comprises several monoclonal antibody candidates. Biotest AG's shares are admitted to Prime Standard trading.
Contact Information:
Lonza Group AG
Christine Menz
Corporate Communications
Muenchensteinerstrasse 38
4002 Basel, Switzerland
Mail: christine.menz@lonza.com
Tel: +41 61 316 82 53
Fax: +41 61 316 92 53
Laura Gerber
Investor Relations
Muenchensteinerstrasse 38
4002 Basel, Switzerland
Mail: laura.gerber@lonza.com
Tel: +41 61 316 83 47
Fax: +41 61 316 93 47
Biotest AG
Hubert Bötsch
Investor Relations
Landsteinerstrasse 5
63303 Dreieich, Germany
Mail: hubert_boetsch@biotest.de
Tel: +49 6103 801 444
Fax: +49 6103 801 880
www.biotest.de
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