Swiss contract drug maker Lonza has announced the signing of a deal with California-based biopharmaceutical company Humanigen to expand manufacturing capacity for Humanigen's lenzilumab, a drug candidate in late-stage clinical trials for COVID-19, Reuters news agency reported on Tuesday.

In a statement, the companies said that Lenzilumab is in Phase III clinical trials to determine whether the drug can prevent and treat an immune hyper-response in COVID-19 patients called "cytokine storm".

This collaboration with Lonza will provide Humanigen with additional production capacity for lenzilumab at Lonza's facilities at Hayward, California, with operations intended to start in 2021, the companies added.

Also, Lonza is working with Moderna to make its COVID-19 vaccine candidate and with Chinese company Junshi Biosciences to help produce a neutralising antibody against COVID-19.