Lonza invests £16m in Slough, UK plant
Will add fermentation and purification suites, process development labs and a GMP warehouse
Lonza is to invest £16m at its Slough, Berkshire, UK biopharmaceutical manufacturing facility to gain a broader range of customer projects and strengthen its global network of biologics development and manufacturing.
The Swiss supplier to the pharmaceutical, healthcare and life science industries is constructing a new 60,000ft2 building adjacent to existing buildings to create a Slough campus to house a new fermentation suite, new purification suites, new process development laboratories and a new GMP warehouse.
Lonza’s Slough site develops and manufactures antibodies and therapeutic proteins used in the clinical stages of drug development and ongoing commercial supply of marketed biopharmaceutical products.
The FDA/MHRA-approved manufacturing site includes a small-scale pilot plant and a range of GMP production reactor capacities between 200 and 2,000 litres. It also houses Lonza’s Biopharmaceutical Centre of Excellence (mammalian) offering cell line construction, upstream and downstream process development and a broad range of analytical services to the biopharmaceutical industry.
The site has been operational since 1985 and currently employs approximately 650 employees.
Gordon Bates, head of Lonza’s Slough facility, said the planned investment is aligned with the company’s strategic direction for the site and will further enhance its operational capability.
‘We are delighted with the investment and eager to push on and realise the benefits of the investment for both our employees and our customers,’ he said.
The project is scheduled for completion by the end of 2012 with no disruption to ongoing activities.
