Granite Bio, a Swiss biotech company built through Versant Venture’s discovery engine Ridgeline Discovery, and ProBioGen, a contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO), have closed a Master Services Agreement to support the development of Granite Bio’s mAb pipeline.

Granite Bio’s lead candidate is a novel monoclonal antibody for treatment of autoimmune and certain cancer indications. By using the DirectedLuck (https://www.probiogen.de/directedluck-transposase-with-epigenetic-targeting.html) transposase, ProBioGen can start cell line development with multiple candidates, from which one selected candidate will finally be further pursued in CMC activities. Based on ProBioGen’s proprietary media platform and USP/DSP platform processes, the development will focus on their adaption to the candidate’s specific requirements.

“In addition to ProBioGen’s proven expertise in cell line and CMC development, it was their proprietary technologies and flexibility that enabled a tailored start of the project and convinced us to select ProBioGen as a partner for our lead candidate,” said Alexander Mayweg, chairman of the board, Granite Bio AG/Ridgeline Discovery.

Lutz Hilbrich, CEO, ProBioGen, said, “With an experienced and professional team at Granite Bio, we are very much looking forward to collaborating on this project and to enable Granite Bio to advance their molecule to clinical testing.”