Basel (CH) and San Diego, CA (USA), 10 February 2016 - Lonza Houston, Inc., a global leader in viral gene therapy manufacturing, and Renova™ Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company developing gene therapy treatments for congestive heart failure and other chronic diseases, have entered into a Manufacturing Services Agreement to develop a scalable manufacturing process and produce cGMP-grade RT-100 (Ad5.hAC6) Drug Product for use in Renova's future clinical trials.

This relationship will leverage Lonza's expertise for the development of a cost-effective, scalable and robust suspension culture-based adenovirus manufacturing platform, which is anticipated to enable the production of sufficient material to meet the potential demand for promising gene therapies such as RT-100.

'This agreement with Renova continues to demonstrate Lonza's leadership position in viral vector production,' said Andreas Weiler, Ph.D., Head of Emerging Technologies Business Unit for Lonza's Pharma&Biotech segment. 'Lonza will utilize our cGMP manufacturing knowledge and world-class quality systems to help Renova develop these promising novel therapeutics for patients as RT-100 is moving toward late-phase clinical trials.'

'Lonza's extensive knowledge in viral manufacturing makes them a great partner in our development of further clinical supply of RT-100 for the treatment of congestive heart failure,' said Jack W. Reich, Ph.D., CEO and Co-founder of Renova Therapeutics. 'This is one of several exciting milestones for Renova [Therapeutics], as we continue our research and development efforts for cardiovascular and metabolic diseases that affect millions of patients worldwide.'

RT-100 is an investigational product that uses a non-replicable viral vector - adenovirus 5 - to deliver a therapeutic gene encoding the protein AC6 (adenylyl cyclase type 6) directly to the heart tissue during a routine outpatient procedure without the need for surgery. A Phase 2 trial for RT-100 in patients with congestive heart failure has been completed. Lonza will manufacture the clinical supplies needed for Renova Therapeutics to conduct pivotal trials of RT-100.

Lonza Group Ltd. issued this content on 10 February 2016 and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 10 February 2016 16:37:32 UTC

Original Document: http://www.lonza.com/about-lonza/media-center/news/Tensid/2016-02-10-16-31-English.aspx