Meet the Biologics R&D External Innovation team:

Asgharpour Zara, PhD
Asgharpour Zara, PhD
Head of External Innovation
As head of External Innovations at Biologics R&D, Zara sets the strategic direction and oversees operational activities within the team. In this role, Zara is responsible for building a strong portfolio of innovators for Lonza and building strategic partnerships with companies, academic institutes and industry organizations that aim to bring innovative technologies into life.
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Delphine Demeester PhD, MBA
Delphine Demeestere PhD, MBA
Lead Expression Systems
Delphine holds a PhD in biotechnology from the VIB in Belgium and an MBA from St Gallen university. She has over 10 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry and initially started off in pre-clinical drug development where she worked on Nanobody technology in sepsis and glycopolymers in rare diseases. Besides scientific work, she also worked as a consultant in the pricing & market access area and in venture valuations.
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Hemanth Kaligothla, M.Sc
Hemanth Kaligothla, M.Sc
Lead Process Science and Technology
Hemanth is the Director of External Innovation responsible for technology scouting and implementation at Lonza. He brings over 16 years of unique experience & leadership in biomanufacturing and commercial business development in the biopharma industry. Previously, he was the Regional Head of the Chromatography applications organization at Sartorius, responsible for commercial technology implementation.
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Iris Geffen Gloor, PhD, MBA
Iris Geffen Gloor, PhD, MBA
Lead New Modalities and Adjacent Growth Areas
Iris Geffen Gloor is a seasoned biotechnology professional, working for Lonza since 2016. Dr. Geffen Gloor was pivotal in setting up the Collaborative Innovation Center (CIC) in Israel. Dr. Geffen Gloor’s professional experience includes end-to-end management of project definition, R&D planning, commercial feasibility assessments, recommendations for novel industrial schemes, technology scouting frameworks and strategic and financial partnerships and opportunities for cooperation.
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Lonza is a leading contract development and manufacturing organization with global reach. We have extensive expertise in the discovery, development, manufacturing and distribution of biologics and cell and gene technologies.
Our unique value lies in the way we integrate technology into our differentiated offering, which is focused on meeting our customers’ complex needs. We have the capability, reputation, expertise, and infrastructure to deliver cutting-edge science and product development.
Through strategic partnerships with innovators, scientists, and entrepreneurs, we combine our internal resources with external initiatives and maximize the potential of new ideas and technologies.

Georg Blaser

Senior Director Bio R&D; Head of Biologics R&D a.i.

The biomedical revolution of the past two decades has expanded the quantity and quality of treatments and modalities available to patients. Lonza is making these new modalities a reality through the development of efficient biomanufacturing processes. Innovation is at the core of what we do to deliver these promises to our customers and their patients.

We have bold ambitions at Lonza. As a leading CDMO, we continually develop our technology platforms to produce treatments at speed, quality and value. We know that we are stronger together and that by partnering with innovators, we can further enhance our capabilities. Our collaborative approach enables us to identify and deliver transformative ideas that have the potential to move the industry forward.

Come and join us to enable a healthier world.

About us

Expanding end-to-end solutions across modalities

Biologics

Market-leading CDMO with a global reach

Why Partner with Us


We offer our technology partners the path to accelerate the development of their innovative ideas and findings through:

  • Research funding for a specific project
  • Technical support
  • Joint work plan and milestones
  • Access to Lonza expertise
  • Coaching during the project lifetime
  • Publications, continued support and upside when successful

    • Our Partnership Models

  • Sponsored research
  • Licensing
  • Research collaborations
  • M&A
  • In-kind support

    • We look forward to working together


    Contact us

    External Innovation at Lonza

    Mammalian Expression
    Microbial Expression
    mRNA
    Bioconjugates
    Bioprocess Development and Manufacturing
    Data Science and Bioinformatics

    Mammalian Expression Systems - areas of interest

    Cell optimization

    HTP screening

    Synthetic biology

    • Optimization strategies to improve productivity / the use of cell resources
    • High throughput screening technologies for cell/clone identification (stability and productivity)
    • Cell line stability solutions
    • Cell line screening technologies
    • System biology and synthetic biology tools
    • Prediction tools (AI and ML) for clone/strain development and selection

    Learn more about our capabilities

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    Microbial Expression Systems - areas of interest

    E. coli

    Strain optimization

    Inclusion bodies

    Secretion

    Screening

    • Strain stability improvements throughout the upscaling process
    • Optimization of production of protein of interest / plasmid optimization
    • Solutions around inclusion body formation
    • Protein secretion technologies
    • HT live strain screening and analysis tools
    • Synthetic biology tools
    • Prediction tools (AI and ML) for clone/strain development and selection

    Learn more about our capabilities

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    mRNA - areas of interest

    mRNA

    Transcription, processing, purification

    LNP formulation platform development

    Delivery and targeting

    Formulations

    • LNP formulation platform development

    Targeting

    • Targeting and mRNA delivery

    Manufacturing

    • mRNA transcription, processing and purification

    Learn more about our capabilities

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    Bioconjugates (ADCs) - areas of interest

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    Bioconjugation

    Linkers and payloads

    Manufacturing

    Conjugation Technologies

    • Bioorthogonal conjugations
    • Selective chemical conjugations
    • ADC manufacturing using site selective conjugation (SSC)
    • Specific conjugation technology for conjugation of oligonucleotides

    Linkers and Payloads

  • Improved linker technology
  • Payloads
    • Novel mode of actions (MOA)
    • New chemistries

    Manufacturing Technologies

    • High-throughput generation and analysis of bioconjugates at lab scale – and its potential applications in manufacturing

    Learn more about our capabilities

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    Bioprocess Development and Manufacturing - areas of interest

    Cell Iine process development

    PAT

    Downstream processing

    Robotics automation

    In-Silico modeling & Digital Twin tools

    Miniaturization (microfluidics)

    • PAT: Increase USP and DSP process monitoring and control with on-line and in-line analytical technologies
    • Novel clarification and downstream platforms for new therapeutic modalities to accelerate time to clinic
    • High throughput automation technologies for bioprocessing
    • In-silico modeling and digital twin tools
    • Manufacturing and technology transfer tools

    Learn more about our capabilities

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    Data Science and Bioinformatics - areas of interest

    tech working in lab with computer

    AI / Machine Learning

    Algorithms to monitor biological processes

    Bioinformatic tools for protein sciences

    Data management

    Gather Omics Knowledge

    • Knowledge-bases of pathways in mammalian cells
    • Omics datasets (genetics, genomics, proteomics, epigenetics, single cells) of mammalian cells in a bioprocessing environment

    Characterize Biological Processes (Mammalian/Microbial)

    • Algorithms to perform multi-omics association studies and machine learning with special emphasis on decision trees
    • Technologies to measure multiple omics cell characteristics simultaneously (e.g. protein and gene expression)

    Protein Sciences

    • Technologies and algorithms to predict protein properties based on sequence and structural data
    • Tools to predict the best expression systems based on pre-defined protein features (size, glycosylation, etc.)

    Bioprocessing

    • Algorithms to harness online bioreactor measurements (e.g. Raman spectra)
    • High-throughput screening
    • Software for high-throughput phenotypic screening and monitoring or proteins and cells

    Data Management

    • Technologies to store, access, query and view large omics datasets
    • Databases and database structures to store knowledge derived from our experiments (e.g. graph knowledge bases)

    Learn more about our capabilities

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    We look forward to working together

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