Lonza Group and Bio One Capital broke ground for their large-scale commercial mammalian cell culture manufacturing facility at Tuas Biomedical Park, Singapore. This will be the second large-scale mammalian manufacturing plant in Singapore, and the third one globally that Lonza has built.
In his welcome address to celebrate the groundbreaking ceremony, Dr Stephan Kutzer, chairman of Lonza Biologics Tuas Pte Ltd, said, "In line with Lonza's strategy to develop its capabilities and expand the biopharmaceuticals business in the fast-growing Asian market, this facility marks an important milestone as Lonza reinforces its leading position as a global custom manufacturer of biopharmaceuticals. The facility will operate with cutting-edge technology and a skilled labor force and will be able to manufacture products with a wide array of processes, yields and technologies. This second Lonza facility in Singapore will meet the needs of a variety of customers and will address the growing global biologics demand."
The construction of the Lonza Biologics Tuas shell, in the first phase, was initiated last month. The final build-out of the facility will be completed and become fully operational, at the latest in 2011, in line with customer commitments. Depending upon customer request, the capital investment could amount up to US$350 million. Lonza Biologics Tuas Pte Ltd will have up to four mammalian bioreactor trains, each with a flexible capacity of 1,000 up to 20,000 liters and is inclusive of the respective purification units.
Speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony, Lim Hng Kiang, Minister for Trade and Industry, said," I am very pleased that Lonza has decided to expand its biologics manufacturing base in Singapore. This strategic partnership between Lonza and Bio One has helped to build the biologics manufacturing capabilities and grow a critical mass of biologics activities in Singapore. Within a period of less than two years, four commercial scale biologics manufacturing investments have been announced in Singapore. All these projects are a strong endorsement of Singapore as a choice site to host world class biologics manufacturing activities."
Lonza is one of the world's leading suppliers to the pharmaceutical, healthcare and life sciences industries. Its products and services extend through its customers' supply chain needs, from research and development to final product manufacture. Lonza is the global leader in the production and technical support of pharmaceutical active ingredients both chemically as well as biotechnologically. Lonza has strong capabilities in large and small molecules, peptides and niche bioproducts which play an important role in the development of novel medicines and healthcare products. Lonza is also a leading provider of value added chemical and biotech ingredients to the nutrition, hygiene, preservation, agrochemical and personal care markets.
Lonza is headquartered in Basel, Switzerland and is listed on the SWX Swiss Exchange. Bio One Capital Pte Ltd is a leading, dedicated biomedical sciences investment management company in Asia with a worldwide presence. With funds of over US$ 600 million, investments are focused on promising and innovative global biomedical companies where Bio One Capital can play a value adding role in bridging and supporting companies' growth strategies in Asia through their operations in Singapore.