Lonza today announced new investments in GMP laboratories and mid-scale manufacturing assets at its API manufacturing centre in Nansha, China. The investments, totalling over CHF 20 million, will allow Lonza to provide a smoother transition from small-scale to large-scale manufacturing for customers while maintaining Lonza’s global quality and regulatory standards.

The expansion will include six 1,000L small molecule reactors, four 1,500L vessels, and isolation equipment providing mid-scale capacity to bridge between early-phase and late-phase production. The additional GMP laboratories will be able to develop and manufacture highly potent API (HPAPI) under GMP standards.

Lonza’s Nansha site is fully integrated within the company’s global manufacturing network. Scientists and engineers based in Nansha focus on API development and manufacturing for customers around the globe. The Lonza team also contains regulatory specialists with experience working with Chinese regulators throughout the drug development and scale-up process. Approximately 250 employees work at Lonza’s Nansha site; this expansion is expected to create around 70 new positions.