Lonza and Touchlight collaboration to bring expanded end-to-end mRNA offerings

Through a collaboration with biotech company Touchlight, Lonza is set to expand their end-to-end offering for mRNA manufacturing with additional DNA raw material sources, including Touchlight’s doggybone DNA. 

The collaboration will allow Lonza to add a differentiated source of DNA to offer customers end-to-end solutions for mRNA therapeutic and vaccine development, while Touchlight will be able to widen their channels through which they can offer customers access to their novel ‘doggybone’ DNA (dbDNA) technology. 

Touchlight’s enzymatic DNA technology, a linear covalently closed DNA vector, will be accessible to Lonza’s customers, offering an enzymatic manufacturing process with GMP production at increased speed, scale, and purity. Lonza will be able to expand their option beyond plasmid DNA methods as well as benefitting from integrated mRNA manufacturing choices. 

VP and Business Unit Head mRNA at Lonza Andre Goerke commented: “The strategic collaboration with Touchlight enables Lonza to further enhance its position as a global leader in mRNA manufacturing. We can now provide our customers with a strong foundation to deliver an end-to-end offering that includes access to a novel synthetic DNA technology. Such an integrated solution can prove beneficial in speeding up time to market, which is critical in the fast-paced industry of mRNA manufacturing.” 

As a starting template for the production of mRNA, DNA sequence technology is vital for the development of mRNA-based therapeutics, including vaccines for infectious diseases and immuno-oncology. 

CEO of Touchlight DNA Services Karen Fallen added: “We are delighted to provide Touchlight customers the benefits of an end-to-end mRNA offering through our collaboration with Lonza. Lonza is the leading CDMO in mRNA manufacturing and has an established, global mRNA manufacturing network. The alliance allows both companies to innovate and to extend their offering on a global level.” 

Source: https://www.lonza.com/news/2022-09-06-07-00