Femta Pharmaceuticals signed a manufacturing services and license agreement with Lonza for its lead humanized interleukin 6 mAb called FM101. Femta says that it aims to submit an IND for the rheumatoid arthritis candidate in 2010.
The license deal gives Femta access to Lonza’s GS (glutamine synthetase) Gene Expression System™ as well as cell-line, purification, and process-development expertise to support cGMP process development for the clinical program.