Milestone reached for Alderley Park biotech firm

Cheshire-based Infex Therapeutics, a company that acquires, develops and licenses innovative drugs to treat pandemic infections, has awarded £1m to a Swiss manufacturer to help progress its latest treatment.

Infex’s RESP-X program is a novel therapy which targets serious recurrent respiratory infections in patients with damaged lung functions.

It is expected to enter clinical trials at the Liverpool University Hospital Foundation Trust Clinical Research Facility in November this year.

Lonza, the Swiss-owned contract manufacturing company, will manufacture a therapeutic antibody for the program in its plant in Slough, UK.

Dr Peter Jackson, executive director of Alderley Park headquartered Infex Therapeutics, said: “Lonza is recognised as a global leader in the manufacture of therapeutic antibodies and we have negotiated this agreement that will provide access to their manufacturing plant within the timeline we need.

“Lonza was involved in an earlier stage of the program, producing pre-clinical material at its facility in Singapore, and we’re very pleased to be able to bring this larger scale body of manufacturing to Lonza’s facility in the UK.

“RESP-X is designed as a preventative treatment against non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis, a long-term condition where the airways of the lungs become abnormally widened, leading to a build-up of excess mucus that can make the lungs more vulnerable to infection.

“Patients can become chronically infected with Pseudomonas, significantly reducing their quality of life. There is high, unmet need, with millions of patients worldwide at risk of this condition, and no approved preventative therapy.”

Jeetendra Vaghjiani, director commercial development, Mammalian at Lonza added: “We are proud to be selected as Infex’s manufacturing and development partner for this project. The mission of Infex is an important one and we are happy to collaborate with Infex in this battle against serious infectious disease.”

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