Eli Lilly collaboration to accelerate biotech manufacturing

Through a new agreement, Eli Lilly and Company and contract development and manufacturing organisation (CDMO) Cambrex will enable external biotech collaborators to accelerate their product development.

Under this joint collaboration agreement, Cambrex will partner with ExploR&D, a pillar of external innovation under the Lilly Catalyze360 initiative. It utilises “enterprise learning, scientific know-how, and best-in-class research and development capabilities… to accelerate partner science”.

Through Catalyze360, biotech collaborators will receive drug substance, drug product, analytical service labs and R&D expertise, Eli Lilly explained.

Eli Lilly and Cambrex – advancing medicine manufacturing 

Primary services through the agreement between the pharma and CDMO companies will be hosted in Cambrex’s facility in Longmont, Colorado, US.

“We are excited to support Lilly’s mission to enable external biotech collaborators to expedite their product development,” commented Brandon Fincher, President of Early Stage Development & Testing at Cambrex. “Our Longmont facility offers all services required to advance early-stage small molecules into the clinic with speed, flexibility and scientific excellence.”

This US site focuses on early development of investigational new drugs. Cambrex shared that this facility covers multiple areas, from process through to formulation development, manufacturing, as well as offering “full analytical development and cGMP testing support”. Collaborators can also access additional support will be provided by Cambrex’s network.

Investing in pharmaceutical production 

In September, Eli Lilly announced plans to invest $1.8 billion in two Irish manufacturing sites, bringing the company’s total investment in its Limerick site to $2 billion. Expansion of this site is set to integrate advanced technology including artificial intelligence (AI), automation as well as machine learning (ML). In terms of environmental sustainability, the site will operate with “35 percent lower energy intensity, use 40 percent less water, and generate 15 percent less waste than traditional biopharmaceutical manufacturing processes”.