Twist Bioscience, LakePharma Form Collaboration

Twist Bioscience and LakePharma, a U.S.-based biologics contract research, development and manufacturing organization (CRDMO), have entered a strategic collaboration to offer antibody discovery and development solutions to pharmaceutical and biotechnology customers.
 
Under the terms of the agreement, LakePharma will have the ability to offer Twist’s proprietary antibody discovery and optimization platforms to their existing and future biopharmaceutical customers as part of their service offerings. One such platform generated is for discovery of novel therapeutic antibodies against a major class of protein drug targets known as GPCRs, which traditionally have been difficult for biologics drug development. GPCRs have been heavily investigated due to their involvement in multiple disease classes, including inflammation, cancer, metabolism, respiratory, and pain. In return, customers of Twist will have access to LakePharma’s integrated discovery and development services.
 
“Twist brings a very different approach to antibody discovery and optimization, as they are to create synthetic DNA libraries quickly and tailor the outcome to the needs of our clients to ensure successful antibody discovery efforts,” said said Hua Tu, chief executive officer, LakePharma. “We are very excited to be able to offer the Twist antibody discovery and optimization platform to our clients. LakePharma has been relentless in expanding technologies and capabilities. The addition of the Twist synthetic DNA libraries is the latest example of our commitment to provide a diverse range of solutions for biologics discovery and development.”
 
Emily Leproust, chief executive officer, Twist Bioscience, said, “LakePharma has established its leadership position in the contract research, development and manufacturing arena for biologics, expanding its offerings commensurate with its exceptional growth. Through this collaboration, we increase our visibility significantly within the biopharma discovery space. We intend to leverage the incredible strengths of Twist, with our ability to synthesize any library for a given target, together with LakePharma’s expertise in integrated discovery, development and early manufacturing to offer a complete solution from target to clinical candidate.”