Lonza To Expand In Singapore
Lonza to expand in Singapore to meet increasing demand for biopharma development services from preclinical to commercial
Lonza is investing CHF 10 million to expand its biopharmaceutical development services platform in Singapore. Lonza's Development Services business, the front-end of the biological mammalian custom manufacturing process, offers customized and innovative services used in the development of robust biomanufacturing processes.
"This further investment in our Singapore location is driven by the increased demand we are seeing on a global basis," remarked Janet White, Head of Development Services. "We are looking forward to offering the full range of our GS Gene Expression System and other technologies in Asia. The location is advantageous to many of our customers from across the globe, and in particular, with our growing set of customers based in the region."
The expansion in Singapore will consist of the addition of 1858 m² of state-of-the-art laboratory space and associated equipment, and will support cell line construction, upstream and downstream process development, and a broad range of analytical services. Lonza currently offers these services in its Slough, UK facility with a limited offering in Singapore.
The facility is expected to come on-line in the first half of 2012. It will integrate seamlessly with Lonza's biological manufacturing facility in Singapore, creating a full-service biopharmaceutical development and manufacturing site that offers customers a complete range of services from development through pre-clinical and small-scale manufacturing, all the way through to large-scale commercial supply.
"We are delighted with the expansion of Lonza's biopharmaceutical development services platform in Singapore. This represents another milestone for the highly successful Lonza-Singapore partnership. Besides enhancing Singapore's capabilities in the biologics manufacturing sector, Lonza's decision reflects how Singapore can support global businesses growing in Asia, as their trusted operating base for the region," said Mr Beh Kian Teik, Director, Singapore Economic Development Board.
About Lonza Singapore
Lonza began construction of its large scale biological manufacturing site in Singapore in 2007 and has initiated cGMP manufacturing for antibodies and therapeutic proteins used in the clinical stages of drug development and ongoing commercial supply of marketed biopharmaceutical products. The manufacturing site includes a flexible range of cGMP production capacities between 200 and 20,000 liters. In 2009, Lonza broke ground on its new cell therapy facility located adjacent to the existing facility. Lonza Singapore leverages cutting-edge technology and a highly skilled labor force and manufactures products for customers around the world.
About Lonza
Lonza is one of the world's leading suppliers to the pharmaceutical, healthcare and life science industries. Products and services span its customers' needs from research to final product manufacture. It is the global leader in the production and support of active pharmaceutical ingredients both chemically as well as biotechnologically. Biopharmaceuticals are one of the key growth drivers of the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. Lonza has strong capabilities in large and small molecules, peptides, amino acids and niche bioproducts which play an important role in the development of novel medicines and healthcare products. In addition, Lonza is a leader in cell-based research, endotoxin detection and cell therapy manufacturing. Furthermore, the company is a leading provider of value chemical and biotech ingredients to the nutrition, hygiene, preservation, agro and personal care markets.
Lonza is headquartered in Basel, Switzerland. In 2010, the company had sales of CHF 2.680 billion. For more information, visit www.lonza.com.
SOURCE: Lonza