Roche exercises option to purchase Lonza's Singapore biologics manufacturing facility
Genentech Singapore, a wholly owned member of the Roche Group, has elected to exercise an option to purchase from Swiss company Lonza its cell culture biologic manufacturing facility in Singapore. The facility will be merged with Genentech Singapore\'s existing biologic manufacturing facility.
Genentech Singapore, a wholly owned member of the Roche Group, has elected to exercise an option to purchase from Swiss company Lonza its cell culture biologic manufacturing facility in Singapore. The facility will be merged with Genentech Singapore's existing biologic manufacturing facility.
The purchase price for the Singapore manufacturing facility will be US$290m (Euro 202.3m) plus additional milestone payments of $70m (€48.9m). It is expected to produce Avastin (bevacizumab) bulk drug substance, has 80,000 litres of fermentation capacity and is located on approximately 10 acres with an option for up to 20 additional acres.
Genentech Singapore's existing 1,000-litre E.coli manufacturing facility is expected to be licensed by the FDA for bulk drug production of Lucentis (ranibizumab) injection in 2010. The combined Singapore operations will play a key role in Roche's global manufacturing network.
As part of the integration between Roche's and Genentech's combined technical operations, the biotechnology production facilities in Singapore currently operating under the Genentech name will later this year operate under the name of Roche Singapore Technical Operations.
As a consequence of the transaction approximately 230 Lonza employees will join Genentech Singapore Technical Operations, bringning the total site headcount to approximately 325.
Lonza will continue to build up its own large-scale mammalian manufacturing plant in Singapore, which will come on-stream in 2011. The company currently employs more than 80 people at the plant and plans to increase this number to at least 300 in the next 12 months and beyond.
"We are happy to have built and handed over a state-of-the-art facility to Genentech and to close the project both on time and on budget. We believe Lonza successfully proved its engineering capabilities and its unique know-how in starting up and operating complex biopharmaceuticals manufacturing facilities," said Mike Brown, VP Operations for Lonza Biologics Singapore.
