The line is fully operational, and the first customer batches will be filled in April 2023, said the Basel headquartered contract development and manufacturing organization.
The new line will support customers with a range of drug product manufacturing needs for both clinical and commercial supply. Set in a 1,200 sq. m cGMP facility, it includes a liquid and lyophilized vial filling isolator line for multiple modalities.
The asset complements recent expansions at the Visp site, including in bioconjugation, mammalian manufacturing and microbial development.
From drug substance to drug product
Lonza said these developments support its long-term growth strategy to build capacity in areas of high customer demand, and its ambition to provide flexible end-to-end solutions for customers at one location – from drug substance to drug product.
“With demand for drug product manufacturing continuing to increase, this new cGMP clinical and commercial line in Visp launches at a crucial time for our customers and market. It also strengthens our DPS capabilities,” said Peter Droc, head of drug product services (DPS) at Lonza.
The completion of the line in Visp follows the recent ground-breaking of a new facility in Stein, also in Switzerland, which will be dedicated to large-scale commercial drug product manufacturing and is being delivered through an investment of CHF500m (US$545.9m).
