mer, 20 mars 2024
Lonza’s move to purchase Genentech’s Vacaville plant for $1.2 billion marks heavy investment in the their manufacturing landscape.
Lonza is significantly expanding its production capacities by taking over a plant of the American Roche subsidiary Genentech in Vacaville, California.
The Basel-based pharmaceutical supplier is spending a lot of money on this and also intends to invest further.
According to the agreement with Roche, Lonza will pay 1.2 billion US dollars in cash for the plant.
In addition, Lonza intends to invest a further 500 million dollars in the expansion, as Lonza announced on Wednesday.
Vacaville is one of the world’s largest production facilities for biological medicines with a total capacity of around 330,000 liters. The acquisition will enable Lonza to significantly expand its production capacity and presence in the USA.
In a separate announcement, Roche stated that the pharmaceutical company had decided to sell the Vacaville site as part of its “long-term network strategy” in order to offer a broader portfolio with new drug modalities.
The products currently manufactured at the site for Roche will be produced by Lonza, but will be phased out in the medium term in favour of committed volumes for other customers, Lonza added.
As part of the agreement, around 750 Genentech employees will be offered employment at the Vacaville site.
The transaction is expected to be completed in the second half of 2024, subject to customary closing conditions. Following completion of the transaction, the new site will be integrated into the Biologics Division and integrated into a network of existing production sites for mammals in Visp in Valais, Slough/UK, Singapore, Portsmouth/US and Porriño/ES, the statement continues.
Lonza assumes that the transaction will have a positive impact on sales growth. Accordingly, the medium-term forecast for the years 2024 to 2028 has been updated and adjusted slightly upwards. Annual sales growth in local currencies of 12 to 15 percent is now expected for the period in question, compared with 11 to 13 percent previously.
Meanwhile, the targets for the core EBITDA margin and return on invested capital (ROIC) remain unchanged, as does the medium-term forecast for the ratio of net debt to core EBITDA and the investment path.
©Keystone/SDA
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