Lonza AG (Basel, Switzerland) and NextPharma announced an agreement for the potential sale of Lonza’s Ploermel (France) and Edinburgh (U.K.) sites. The agreement is subject to relevant conditions and regulatory approvals. Where applicable, both parties will consult with local Works Councils.
The Ploermel (FR) and Edinburgh (UK) sites employ around 260 and 130 permanent staff respectively. They produce liquid-filled hard capsules (including Licaps) and softgels (including for high potent and hormonal products) for the pharmaceutical and consumer health and nutrition markets.
NextPharma offers specialized CDMO (Contract Development and Manufacturing) services in oral and topical (including sterile ophthalmic) finished dosage forms. With this intended acquisition, NextPharma plans to develop and broaden its technology offering into lipid based finished dosage forms (softgels and liquid-filled hard capsules), in addition to offering high potency capabilities and New Chemical Entity development services to both its existing and new customers.
With this intended divestment, Lonza plans to exit both softgels and liquid-filled hard capsules for the pharma market, aside from retaining capability for feasibility studies as part of a technology selection offering. In the consumer health and nutrition space, Lonza plans to exit softgels but continue to offer Licaps-based products (lipid capsules) out of Colmar (FR), Greenwood (US) & Sagamihara (JP). Capsules (including Licaps for nutrition) remain core to Lonza’s offering and the company has recently announced an investment of CHF85 million to expand capsule manufacturing capacity by 30 billion capsules annually across eight sites, alongside an expansion of manufacturing capabilities in Oregon and Switzerland.
Should the agreement receive all necessary approvals, a seamless customer experience will remain a focus through the carve-out and ownership transfer process. NextPharma has indicated that maintaining high standards of service delivery and quality for customers will remain a priority through the transition period.