Odyssey Thera, Lonza Make PCA Technology Available To Researchers

Additionally, Odyssey Thera has granted to Lonza an option to certain exclusive global technology licenses. The companies have also initiated collaborative technology, product development and marketing activities.

Under terms of the agreement, Odyssey Thera will receive an equity investment and technology development funding, and is eligible to receive additional payments upon option exercise as well as milestones and royalties on Lonza sales. With the equity investment Lonza has become a minority shareholder in Odyssey Thera and joins a distinguished group of investors including Pfizer and Merck and Co.

Odyssey Thera has established the dominant worldwide intellectual property position in Protein-fragment Complementation Assays, encompassing 16 issued US and international patents and over 60 applications in prosecution. PCA enables a precise visualization and localization of protein complexes within living human cells.

A key benefit of the technology is the applicability to any target, pathway, or disease process. Odyssey Thera has created hundreds of contextual cellular assays, an infrastructure to analyze and mine the data, and a high-value database of known drug and toxicant cellular activity. When new targets or drugs are screened on the platform, their mechanisms and safety issues are identified, allowing critical decisions to be made with confidence at an early stage of the development process.

John Westwick, president and CEO of Odyssey, said: “Odyssey Thera has created unique strategies for analyzing cellular targets in their native context and for expediting drug development. Our partnerships with top-tier pharmaceutical companies have validated the approach.

“The alliance with Lonza will accelerate technology development while driving commercialization of our PCA-based tools and services. Working with Lonza’s industry-leading capabilities in primary cell culture, transfection and marketing creates an excellent growth opportunity for both companies.”

Teun van der Heide, head of research solutions at Lonza, said: “Access to the PCA technology patent portfolio enables Lonza to expand its product and service offering for drug discovery and safety testing. We are excited by the product pipeline that this alliance gives Lonza and look forward to contributing to the further development of Odyssey’s unique technology.”

Odyssey Thera is a privately held drug discovery technology company focused on improving the success rate of new therapeutic development. Odyssey Thera’s technology measures disease-relevant pathway activity within living human cells. Patents owned by Odyssey also cover the use of the technology in live animals and plants and for diagnostic and bioprocess applications. To learn more about Odyssey Thera, please visit www.odysseythera.com.

Lonza is a global player in the production and support of active pharmaceutical ingredients both chemically as well as biotechnologically. It has capabilities in large and small molecules, peptides, amino acids and niche bioproducts which play an important role in the development of novel medicines and healthcare products. Lonza is active in cell-based research, endotoxin detection and cell therapy manufacturing. Lonza is also a provider of value chemical and biotech ingredients to the nutrition, hygiene, preservation, agro and personal care markets.