Sanofi and Lonza Partner to Build Biologics Production Facility in Switzerland

Lonza has announced that they will partner with Sanofi to build and operate a large-scale mammalian cell culture facility for monoclonal antibody production in Visp, Switzerland. The initial investment will be around CHF 290 million (€ 270 million), to be split equally between the companies. The initial phase of the facility will commence construction in 2017, pending necessary regulatory approvals, and is expected to be fully operational by 2020.

Each party will share the available capacity in line with their equity shareholding in the joint venture. Sanofi will have additional access to bio-manufacturing capacity to support increasing demands for their portfolio of biologic therapeutic products, should they require it; and Lonza will be free to market their share of capacity, if not required by Sanofi, and will also market unused Sanofi capacity, where available. (Source: www.lonza.com)