Lonza to acquire manufacturing site from Roche in major $1.2 billion deal

The site, in Vacaville, California, is one of the largest biologics manufacturing facilities in the world, with a total bioreactor capacity of 330,000 liters.

According to Lonza, the move will significantly increase its large-scale biologics manufacturing capacity for mammalian therapies and extend the presence of its facility network in the U.S.

The company​ also plans to invest a further $500 million to upgrade the facility and ‘enhance capabilities’.

“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. It will support us in providing a commercialization path to existing customers and incremental large-scale commercial capacity to our partners,” said Jean-Christophe Hyvert, president, biologics at Lonza.

“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.”

The products currently manufactured at the site by Genentech will continue to be supplied by Lonza in the short-term, before phasing out over time as the site transitions to serve new customers.

Under the agreement, approximately 750 Genentech employees at the California site will also be offered employment by Lonza.