Halozyme Therapeutics has outlined plans to expand use of its Enhanze drug delivery technology, branching out beyond antibodies to cover small molecules and cell therapies.
Enhanze is best known today as the technology behind subcutaneous formulations of antibody therapies such as Johnson & Johnson’s oncology blockbuster Darzalex. But Halozyme and potential partners are starting to look beyond monoclonal and bispecific antibodies, with small molecules and cell therapies on their hit lists. The cell therapy opportunity is in its early stages.
“It's fair to say it's a minority of the conversations we're having. But I do think as cellular therapies are advancing more and more in the clinic, we're going to have companies come and want to discuss with us what potential benefits could be with Enhanze,” Halozyme CEO Helen Torley told investors on a quarterly results conference call.
Torley said bispecifics and monoclonal antibodies make up the largest slice of the conversations that Halozyme is having with potential customers, followed by small molecules and cell therapies. While it is early days for the move into new modalities, Halozyme sees reasons to think it can make a mark outside of the biologics that are the focal point of its business today.
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According to Torley, people are now “thinking about small molecules and in particular thinking about longer duration of therapy and how that could improve the patient experience, potentially even improve compliance,” opening up a broader set of opportunities for the company. Halozyme could open up further opportunities by adding to its toolkit of technologies.
“We continue to evaluate the potential for new technology platform expansion through acquisition with the goal of accelerating and extending long-term revenue growth. We're looking at platforms that are somewhat or largely derisked where we can take our skills and license it to other types of companies,” Torley said.