Swiss-based company Lonza recently announced the expansion of its small scale production capability at the Visp site, Switzerland. The small scale plant, predicted to come on stream in early 2003, aims to serve customer demands for pre- and early clinical phase materials and strengthen Lonza's position as a supplier to the life sciences industry.
Lonza is to invest SFr20 million (€13.7m) in the small scale production unit designed to manufacture quantities in the range of 10 to 150 kg. The company hopes that the plant expansion will add significant additional capacity to Lonza's expanded Kilolab facilities (reactor volumes up to 30 litres).
Life sciences company Lonza, had sales of SFr1.87 billion in 2001 and currently operates 13 facilities in 6 countries. The company is a leading supplier of active chemical ingredients, intermediates and biotechnology solutions to the pharmaceutical and agrochemical industries.