In the first buildout, the 2,000m², six-level facility will produce antibody-drug conjugate payload molecules (ADCs) for oncology treatment. Due to start up in 2023, it is designed for future expansions supporting the small molecules technologies offerings, which will include drug substance and particle engineering technologies such as dry spraying dispersion, along with drug products. Lonza is regarded as an industry leader in ADCs.

“Oncology continues to be the leading indication in biopharma and a key driver for highly potent ingredients such as antibody-drug conjugate payload molecules," said Maurits Janssen, strategic business development small molecules at Lonza. “In addition,” he said, “small molecules oncology therapies require specific technologies. These challenges were specifically taken into account when designing this manufacturing complex.”

Skilled worker shortage in vaccine development

Separately, Lonza’s ongoing role in supporting production of Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine came into the spotlight last week when the US biotech’s CEO, Stephane Bancel spoke to a virtual summit on the pandemic vaccine scale-up. Saying that more people are needed to produce Covid vaccines, Bancel noted that his company’s European supply chain depends on the Swiss CDMO, which he said has struggled to find enough highly qualified personnel to fill the high demands of the vaccine rollout.

To bridge the personnel gap, Bancel said Lonza is diverting workers from other projects at Visp, while hiring new employees and soliciting help from drugmakers, to which US pharma trade journal Fierce Pharma said Glaxo SmithKline (GSK) could belong. While its development project with France’s Sanofi remains stalled, the UK’s largest pharmaceutical company is already helping other vaccine producers such as CureVac and Novavax. Bancel added that finding enough highly skilled workers for vaccine-related projects is a major problem, not only at Lonza.

At the same event, the Moderna chief said the US government-supported biotech is working toward having a booster shot against Covid-19 variants approved by late summer or early autumn this year. Moderna is on track to produce up to 1 billion doses Covid vaccines this year, along with as many as 1.4 billion next year, he said.

Author: Dede Williams, Freelance Journalist