Lonza To Acquire U.S. Biologics Site From Roche For $1.2 Bln

(RTTNews) - Lonza (LZAGF.PK), a supplier to the pharmaceutical, healthcare and life-science industries, said that it agreed to acquire the Genentech large-scale biologics manufacturing site in Vacaville, California (US) from Roche for $1.2 billion.

The Vacaville (US) facility currently has a total bioreactor capacity of around 330,000 liters, making it one of the largest biologics manufacturing sites in the world by volume.

As per the deal, about 750 Genentech employees at the Vacaville (US) facility will be offered employment by Lonza.

Lonza plans to invest about 500 million Swiss francs in additional CAPEX to upgrade the Vacaville (US) facility and enhance capabilities to satisfy demand for the next generation of mammalian biologics therapies. The products currently manufactured at the site by Roche will be supplied by Lonza, with committed volumes over the medium term, phasing out over time as the site transitions to serve alternative customers.

The transaction is expected to close in the second-half of 2024.

As the transaction is expected to be accretive to sales growth, Lonza has updated its Mid-Term Guidance 2024 - 2028. Its sales growth range was set at 11 - 13% CAGR in CER, and has now been updated to 12 - 15%. Mid-Term Guidance for CORE EBITDA margin and ROIC remains unchanged.