Lindy Biosciences signs Novartis agreement worth up to nearly $1B
Lindy Biosciences, a small drug-formulations company in Morrisville, has landed a big deal with one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies.
Lindy has entered into an exclusive global licensing agreement and strategic collaboration with Novartis Pharma AG, a subsidiary of the Swiss medicines giant Novartis AG.
The collaboration will focus on converting certain Novartis medicines into convenient, self-administered, subcutaneous injections using Lindy’s proprietary "microglassification" technology for drug delivery.
The agreement includes an upfront payment of $20 million to Lindy and up to $934 million in additional payments across multiple targets upon achieving certain regulatory, development and commercial milestones, as well as tiered single-digit royalties on net sales, the companies announced in a news release.
"We're excited to deepen our collaboration with Novartis,” said Deborah Bitterfield, Ph.D., founder and chief executive officer of Lindy. “This collaboration is a testament to our shared dedication to enhancing patient care and marks a significant milestone as we take Lindy’s formulation technology into the clinic for the first time. Together, we aim to transform drug delivery and improve treatment access for patients worldwide."
Lindy’s microglassification technology, conceived at Duke University and further developed by the company, is a novel dehydration method of converting therapeutic protein solutions into highly concentrated microbead powders suitable for long-term storage and transport. The powders can be mixed into suspensions for subcutaneous injection, allowing higher dosing of biologics in smaller volumes.
Currently, many biotherapeutics, especially monoclonal antibodies, must be given intravenously in a clinical setting, primarily because the high doses required can’t be formulated in volumes suitable for subcutaneous injection.
Lindy’s technology allows self-administration of biotherapeutics at home using prefilled syringes or auto-injectors, potentially reducing healthcare costs while improving patient comfort, convenience and treatment compliance.
NCBiotech portfolio company
Lindy was founded in 2016 with technology licensed from Duke. The North Carolina Biotechnology Center has provided three loans totaling $950,000 to support the company’s technology development.
The first loan, a $200,000 award in 2017, helped position Lindy to raise venture capital.
“The Center’s loan was really helpful two years ago before we had funding,” Bitterfield told NCBiotech in a 2020 interview. “It makes a huge difference to a startup.”
Lindy subsequently raised about $8 million in equity capital from investors including Fulcrum Financial Partners of Raleigh and IAG Capital Partners and Good Growth Capital, both of Charleston, S.C.
NCBiotech has also sponsored seven internships at Lindy through its Industrial Internship Program.
Lindy has 7,500 square feet of lab and office space on the 100-acre Triangle LIFE campus in Morrisville.
The company has 14 employees, and due to the Novartis deal it expects to hire at least four scientists and engineers by the end of this year, Bitterfield said. Lindy recently hired Gary Vinson, a local life sciences executive, as chief operating officer.