Lonza Expands Capsule Manufacturing Capacity

Lonza announced a CHF85m ($93m) investment in its Capsules and Health Ingredients (CHI) Division, a dosage form delivery partner to the biopharma and health nutrition industry. The investment will enable the company to expand its overall production capacity of capsules within CHI's Capsugel® portfolio by 30 billion capsules annually. Production capacity will be increased across Lonza's global manufacturing and supply chain network. The investment will allow a 15% increase in CHI's current capsule production capacity.

The addition of manufacturing capacity for a further 30 billion capsules will address the high growth across CHI's gelatin, vegetarian, and specialty polymers portfolio as well as the liquid-filled hard capsules sold under the Licaps® brand. This investment will be made over two fiscal years, 2020 and 2021, across eight global Lonza manufacturing sites, including Bornem (BE), Colmar (FR), Greenwood (USA), Haryana (IN), Jakarta (ID), Puebla (MX), Sagamihara (JP), and Suzhou, (CN).

"We continue to see strong demand for our products across all markets, as consumers and patients alike take a more active interest in their health. Therefore, we felt it is critical that we make this commitment to expand the manufacturing capacity of our network, not only addressing supply needs in the near term but also supply availability over the long term," Claude Dartiguelongue, President Capsules & Health Ingredients, Lonza said.

"Dosage form technologies have evolved rapidly over the past ten years. As the leader in the industry, we are committed to innovation and helping our customers successfully deliver next-generation drugs and nutritional supplements," Quote from Stef Vanquickenborne, Head of Capsules & Health Ingredients Research and Development, Lonza said.