Contract development and manufacturing organisation (CDMO) Lonza is expanding its bioconjugation manufacturing capabilities at its site in Visp, Switzerland, with new commercial-scale capacity expected to become operational from 2028.
The company provides development and manufacturing services to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.
The investment combines upgrades to existing mid-scale manufacturing suites with the construction of a new large-scale facility, providing additional capacity for antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) and other bioconjugates as more products progress through clinical development towards commercialisation.
The existing manufacturing suites will be converted to a standardised single-use platform, introducing 500-litre manufacturing capacity by 2027.
The upgrades will include single-use equipment, chromatography capabilities and parallel manufacturing capacity, allowing the suites to accommodate multiple products and programmes.
According to Lonza, the changes are intended to support faster campaign changeovers, more flexible manufacturing schedules and the onboarding of new customer programmes.
The second part of the expansion involves a new large-scale bioconjugation facility currently under construction at the Visp manufacturing complex.
The facility will contain three multiproduct suites for both cytotoxic and non-cytotoxic products, with stainless-steel and single-use manufacturing capabilities at scales of up to 1,200 litres.
The new commercial manufacturing capacity is expected to come online in 2028.
The facility builds on Lonza's previously announced bioconjugation expansion at Visp, which has since been extended to include the three multiproduct suites.
"As more ADCs and other bioconjugates advance towards commercialization, customers need confidence that manufacturing capacity can grow with their programs,” said Christian Seufert, Head of Advanced Synthesis at Lonza.
