Lonza expands clinical manufacturing capacity at Oregon formulation development plant

Lonza has upgraded clinical manufacturing capabilities for early-phase clinical trials at its small molecules bottling and labeling facility in Bend, Oregon.

The investment, announced this month, saw Lonza add equipment that can detect defects in tablets and capsules as well as clean, fill, cap and seal, and label bottles intended for use in early-phase clinical trials.

Matthew Ferguson, senior director of product development for small molecules at Lonza, said, “Lonza’s Drug Product Formulation and Development Services, offered from our site in Bend, supports clinical and commercial development and manufacturing.

“The new bottling equipment for filling tablets and powder-filled capsules further enhances our ability to support customers looking to accelerate their candidate pathway through Phase I and II clinical trials and beyond,” he said.

Capacity

Built in 2022, the facility features 11 suites in total, seven of which are GMP processing suites, and provides enhanced capabilities for development and clinical manufacturing of drug product intermediates and drug products.

Prior to the investment, the facility had capacity for spray dried dispersion powders for oral delivery, dry granulation using a Gerteis roller compactor, and compression into immediate release dosage forms through a Korsch tablet press and Vector LDCS coater.

At the time the firm said the facility would serve as a “center of excellence” for bioavailability enhancement and inhaled delivery for its small molecules business unit.

“The Bend team has been at the forefront of advancing spray-drying and other particle engineering approaches to address solubility and other complex drug formulation and manufacturing challenges. Such challenges are typical for customers in their early clinical development phase,” the company said in a press release published at the time.

According to Lonza, the facility currently supports 80 ongoing projects.

Small molecule drugs are an important part of Lonza’s contracting business. According to its H1 report, chemical drugs saw sales growth of 2.5% compared to H1 2023, with a CORE EBITDA margin of 33.6%.

At the time Lonza said the gains in its small molecule business were driven by a favorable product mix and high asset utilization.

Pexels/elijah akala