Lonza Purchases Roche Biologics Manufacturing Site in California for $1.2 Billion
The purpose for the deal, the CDMO says, is to meet the demand for commercial mammalian contract manufacturing.
Lonza, a contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO), will be purchasing Genentech’s large-scale biologics manufacturing site in Vacaville, CA from Roche for a whopping $1.2 billion.
The acquisition is expected to close during the second half of 2024, and will be in addition to the $557 million Lonza plans to invest over the next few years. In an effort to meet this demand for commercial mammalian contract manufacturing—especially with capacity expected to remain high as new therapies get approved—the deal is expected to boost the CDMO’s large-scale biologics production capacity.
Currently, the Vacaville plant has a total bioreactor capacity of around 330,000 liters; it complements Lonza’s East Coast biologics facility in Portsmouth, NH, along with its multiple locations that span Europe and Asia.
“The Vacaville site is a highly valuable strategic acquisition that will make capacity immediately available for our customers and unlock future growth for our biologics division,” said Jean-Christophe Hyvert, Lonza’s president of biologics. “It will support us in providing a commercialization path to existing customers and incremental large-scale commercial capacity to our partners. We have deep and long-standing industrial expertise in delivering commercial scale manufacturing services for our customers’ therapies. In combining this with the strong legacy of the Vacaville facility, its highly skilled colleague community and its proven track record on quality, we are excited to take our leading large-scale mammalian offering to its next chapter of growth.”
Reference
Lonza Signs Agreement to Acquire Large-Scale Biologics Site in Vacaville (US) from Roche. Lonza. News release. March 20, 2024. Accessed March 22, 2024. https://www.lonza.com/news/2024-03-20-07-00
