Lonza invests in new phase of development at Portsmouth site in US

Lonza Pharma & Biotech has invested in a new phase of development at its Portsmouth, New Hampshire, USA site, which will include mid-scale mammalian capacity and the addition of new cell-therapy suites.

“These new facilities have been designed specifically to deliver for our customers and their patients,” commented Marc Funk, COO Lonza Pharma & Biotech. “They will be enabled by cutting-edge technology developed with our R&D team and the decades of expertise at our Portsmouth site.”

The investment will see the company install multiple 6,000 L bioreactors at the site to meet existing and new customer demand, with building expected to commence late this year (2018). Additionally, the company will be implementing full-suite process analytic technology (PAT) and advanced multi-variate analysis (MVA) to ensure consistent performance, which ties in with the company’s focus on automation. The hybrid facility, which also incorporates single-use technologies for simplified processing, will be installed in an existing building.

Furthermore, Lonza is installing multiple cell-therapy suites at its Portsmouth site. After establishing centres of excellence in cell and gene therapy across its network earlier in the year, the investment into the Portsmouth site will place it as a clinical and commercial manufacturing centre in this emerging technology. Customers will have access to facilities for phase I through to commercial manufacturing under one roof, and it is expected to be fully operational by late 2018.