Lonza

Lonza Group AG, together with its subsidiaries, supplies various products and services for pharmaceutical, biotech, and nutrition markets in Europe, North and Central America, Latin America, Asia, Australia and New Zealand, and internationally. It operates through Biologics, Small Molecules, Cell & Gene, and Capsules & Health Ingredients segments. 

The Biologics segment engages in the contract development and manufacturing of biopharmaceuticals for clinical and commercial manufacturing needs throughout the product lifecycle, including drug substance and drug product manufacturing. The Small Molecules segment operates as an integrated development and manufacturing service provider for small molecule drug substances and their intermediates. It supports customers across various aspects of design, development, and manufacturing. 

The Cell & Gene segment develops technologies and platforms that industrialize the manufacturing processes and production of cell and gene therapies. It also offers contract development and manufacturing services, and regulatory support for a range of allogeneic and autologous cell therapies, exosome-based therapies, as well as viral vector gene therapies. In addition, this segment provides speciality raw materials and enabling technology solutions in cell and gene therapy, injectable drugs, vaccines, and bio-manufacturing markets. 

The Capsules & Health Ingredients segment offers capsules, dosage form solutions, and healthy ingredients for pharmaceutical and nutraceutical customers. The company was founded in 1897 and is headquartered in Basel, Switzerland.

Lonza was founded in 1897 in the small Swiss town of Gampel, situated in the canton of Valais, taking its name from the nearby river. In the course of the 20th century, Lonza evolved from hydroelectricity and C2 chemistry, through nitrogen chemistry to petrochemistry before moving into fine chemistry and biochemistry. Initially, the company produced electricity. The following year, calcium carbide manufacture began using electricity to heat a furnace to the 2000 °C required for quicklime to react with coal. Lonza moved to neighbouring Visp in 1909. 

Competition from electric lighting reduced demand for calcium carbide and in 1915 Lonza started industrial production of calcium cyanamide which became popular as cheap nitrogenous fertiliser, only to be supplanted by urea. Several new processes were launched in the 1920s. In addition to an electrolysis plant capable of making 5800 m3 hydrogen per hour, came metaldehyde, ammonia and ketene. In 1923, Lonza started to convert calcium carbide to metaldehyde via acetylene and acetaldehyde. In 1925, ammonia production was started, with a process licensed by Casale. Ammonia was also converted to nitric acid. 

With calcium cyanamide and calcium nitrate, Lonza commercialised formulated fertilisers starting in the 1930s. At the start of World War II, Lonza was contracted by the Swiss government to produce synthetic fuel, which it did by converting acetaldehyde to paraldehyde, used as an additive in transport fuel. In 1928, ketene production started using acetic acid made by the oxidation of acetaldehyde. Ketene was initially used to make cellulose acetate for rayon manufacture, but after 1947 Lonza converted most of its ketene to diketene, which was then converted to a range of chemical precursors. 

Diketene capacity rose to 18'000t per year in 1993. In 1956, the production of niacin via 5-ethyl-2-methyl-pyridine was. In the 1940s, Lonza used its C2 basis to enter the vinyl chloride business. The production was relocated to Sins and finally discontinued. At the 1959 AGM, it was decided to back integrate into petrochemistry, and Montecatini was contracted to build the world's smallest cracker in Visp. The initial failure of this plant to meet its specifications triggered a CHF12mio penalty which Lonza used to build a research centre.

Lonza acquired the Ftalital works in Scanzorosciate, Italy which manufactured intermediates for polyester resins, and started work on the new headquarters building in Basel in 1962. Lonza expanded into the United States and founds Lonza Inc. in Fair Lawn, New Jersey in 1966. This and the acquisition of a Mapleton, Illinois plant producing sorbitol, tertiary amines and quaternary ammonium compounds create the Chemical Specialties Business Unit. By 1974, the group merged with the aluminium firm Alusuisse, after which the group moved into the biotechnology sector. Lonza's Polymers and Additives Business Unit starts with HQ in Milan in 1980, and the acquisition of a plasticizers and unsaturated polyester resins plant in the San Giovanni Valdarno site.

By 1986 they were the Startup of the first multi-purpose plants at the fine chemicals complex in Visp, Switzerland, marking the inception of Lonza's contract manufacturing business. A year before, Lonza made the Acquisition of Molding Compounds SpA a company producing Sheet Moulding Compounds and Bulk Moulding Compounds. In 1990 they bought, Reglar Srl another SMC and BMC producer and Resinmec SpA, Pontirolo Nuovo and Pandino, Italy, a thermoplastic resin compounded. The next year, the purchase of Duroform GmbH in Miehlen, Germany, another SMC and BMC producer, later incorporated into Polynt. By 1996, they got into a joint venture 80:20 with the Economic Development Board signed for a $125mio, 70kt/y isophthalic acid plant on Palau Sakra.

In October of 2001, they acquired American firm Arch Chemicals for $1.4 billion, thus becoming the world's largest manufacturer of biocides. In 2005 Lonza Poland Sp. Zoo launched the construction of a new site in Niepolomice for the production of compounds and unsaturated polyester resins. The next year, Lonza S.p.A. changed its name to Polynt S.p.A., listed on the STAR segment of the Italian Stock Exchange, on 30 October. This marked the exit of Lonza from the resins business. In 2007, Lonza Singapore Pte Ltd. was sold to Perstorp Group for USD 138 million. In 2016, announced a $ 300 million acquisition of US-based InterHealth Nutraceuticals, a leader in research, development, manufacture and marketing of value-added nutritional ingredients for use in dietary supplements. Later that year they acquired  Capsugel for US$5.5 billion from private equity firm KKR. . In 2017  February, announced the construction of a CHF 290 million biopharmaceuticals plant in Visp.

In May 2020, Moderna struck a manufacturing deal with Lonza to produce its COVID-19 vaccine active ingredient while expanding sterile production and fill-finish activities to 500 million doses starting in 2021. Production of the mRNA bulk vaccine started in January 2021, soon after an official visit by Swiss Federal Councilor Alain Berset. Lonza Group is responsible for the global production of two-thirds of the raw materials for the Moderna vaccine at combined U.S. and Swiss facilities. The company also started to collaborate with Altimmune Inc. for the development of a nasal COVID-19 vaccine.

“Serving Today’s and Tomorrow’s Market Needs by Bringing Biotech and Specialty Chemical Expertise to Our Customers. With more than a century of experience, we have a unique capability to connect biotech expertise with fine chemical know-how, which allows us to provide the best solutions for our customer's success.”

“The goal of Lonza's Vision Zero initiative is to achieve zero workplace accidents and injuries, zero environmental incidents, zero product transportation incidents and zero manufacturing process incidents.”