Lonza Expands Microbial Manufacturing to Meet Biotech Demand

Lonza has completed an expansion of its microbial manufacturing facility at Visp, Switzerland, to address the growing demand for microbial manufacturing - driven by the rise of smaller, more complex molecules in the biotech pipeline - and boost its capacity to meet the increasing demand for microbial-based biologics. The newly expanded facility now features two 4,000L fermenters and has received GMP certification, enabling it to produce complex proteins on a commercial scale.

The facility integrates advanced automation systems, ensuring efficient and high-quality production and allows the company to strengthen its flexibility and capacity to support the development and manufacturing needs of biotech companies, especially those working on next-generation biologics.

The following article originally appeared in GEN.

Lonza completed its planned expansion of the mid-scale microbial manufacturing facility at its Visp, Switzerland site, which was recently granted a GMP license after a successful audit by Swissmedic, allowing cGMP manufacturing and release of biologics produced using microbial fermentation.

The facility, which provides commercial manufacturing capacity and houses two 4,000L fermenters, incorporates automation principles in its core operations, including an electronic manufacturing execution system and integration of all sensors, according to Michael De Marco PhD, vice president, head of microbial, Lonza.

“Microbial manufacturing is a well-established and a favored option for producing complex proteins. Recent growth in the heterogeneity of the biotech pipeline, alongside the growth of smaller and more complex next-generation molecules, has increased demand for microbial manufacturing capacity,” said De Marco. “This expansion adds to our suite of scales and further strengthens our offering to flexibly adapt to all demand and life cycle scenarios of our customer’s medicines.”

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