Lonza reports that it will invest to establish drug product manufacturing capabilities at its site in Guangzhou, China. The new investment will fund the installation of an aseptic drug product fill and finish production line at the 17,000 m2 cGMP mammalian facility. The Guangzhou (CN) facility began operations in Q2 2021 and expects to deliver its first cGMP batch later this year.
The fill and finish production line will significantly expand the site’s capabilities, supporting global and domestic customers with supply for clinical trials and commercial batches in China, according to a Lonza official. The introduction of drug product manufacturing at the Guangzhou site will provide a combined drug substance and drug product manufacturing service offering for customers, in line with Lonza’s strategy to provide integrated end-to-end solutions to customers, added the Lonza spokesperson.
The sterile, multi-product fill and finish line will support the filling of liquid and lyophilized products. The installation is expected to be completed in 2022 and to create more than 150 new positions at the Guangzhou site.
To facilitate the installation of the new drug product manufacturing line, Lonza also plans to expand the footprint of its global Drug Product Services (DPS) hub in Basel, Switzerland. Lonza’s DPS laboratories are a Center of Excellence, supporting drug product capabilities across the company’s global network by providing formulation development and process development, explains Peter Droc, head of DPS.
