Lonza completes lab expansion at Chinese API production plant

Lonza completed a laboratory expansion project at its API manufacturing facility in Nansha, China.

The project, which grew the footprint of the lab by 250 square meters, included the addition of new analytical and manufacturing equipment and is expected to begin operations this month. The cost of the expansion wasn’t disclosed.

The additions extend both capabilities and capacity of development laboratories and kilogram-scale production of highly potent APIs (HPAPIs), which have become a large part of Lonza’s small-molecule development pipeline fueled by increased demand, the company said.

“With over 1,000 HPAPIs in development across multiple indications, there is a growing need for HPAPI development and manufacturing capacity from early-phase to commercial,” Jan Vertommen, an executive director for Lonza, said in a statement.

Lonza has been on an expansion tear in recent years. Aside from completion of the Nansha project, the company announced in August 2021 the addition of a fill-finish line at its Guangzhou, China, facility that had only opened its doors earlier in the year. The company also has a facility in Suzhou, China, which provides drug capsules and microbial control solutions.

In May last year, Lonza  announced it would shell out $935 million to build mammalian facilities at sites in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and Visp, Switzerland.

Mar 10, 2022

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