Lonza has struck a deal to license certain IP rights to Nona Biosciences' single-domain antibody BBB-crossing technology, expanding beyond its traditional CDMO role toward ownership of proprietary CNS delivery technologies. The collaboration, announced July 1, involves Lonza paying upfront and option fees to Massachusetts-based Nona, a wholly owned subsidiary of HBM Holding Limited (HKEX: 02142), with both parties sharing revenues from future licensing agreements generated through the collaboration.
The deal is structured as a bilateral technology exchange rather than a conventional platform license: Nona contributes its Harbour Mice fully human heavy-chain-only antibody (HCAb) platform for BBB-crossing candidate discovery, while Lonza (SIX: LONN) contributes its GS Gene Expression System and GlycoConnect bioconjugation technology for candidate optimization. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Deal context
The Harbour Mice HCAb platform generates fully human single-domain antibodies — molecules of approximately 15 kilodaltons, roughly one-tenth the size of a conventional IgG — described by Nona as capable of transcytosis across the tight-junction endothelium of the blood-brain barrier. The small size of these antibodies is structurally relevant to CNS penetration: conventional IgGs at approximately 150 kilodaltons are largely excluded from the brain, while sdAbs are better suited to receptor-mediated transport across BBB endothelium. Nona's platform produces these molecules from transgenic mice carrying human immunoglobulin genes, yielding fully human sequences without the humanization step required for camelid-derived nanobodies — a distinction the company argues reduces immunogenicity risk.
The combination of Lonza's GlycoConnect bioconjugation technology with Nona's sdAb discovery suggests the intended application may extend beyond naked antibodies to BBB-crossing conjugates — potentially including CNS-targeted antibody-drug conjugates or oligonucleotide conjugates — a cargo class not directly addressed by the IGF1R-targeting bispecific approaches that have dominated recent BBB platform licensing.
No named drug candidate is the subject of this deal. The collaboration is designed to generate validated BBB-crossing candidates for downstream licensing to third-party drug developers, with both Nona and Lonza participating in those licensing revenues. Lonza's head of licensing described the arrangement as immediately enabling customers to "translate promising CNS assets into viable therapeutics" by combining BBB-crossing technology access with CDMO manufacturing services under a single engagement.
Industry and transaction context
Lonza's recent dual-payload ADC license to Antharis Therapeutics in June 2026 and its broader bispecific ADC licensing activity reflect the company's growing emphasis on technology licensing alongside its traditional CDMO business. The Nona collaboration extends that strategy into CNS drug delivery, establishing a proprietary BBB-crossing platform that the partners intend to commercialize through future licensing agreements with biopharma companies.