Lonza creates engineering business unit in China

Swiss company Lonza is forming a new business unit based in China. Lonza Engineering will provide engineering, facility design and maintenance services for the pharmaceutical, biopharmaceutical and chemical markets.

There is a recognised need for effective and efficient plant, process and equipment design together with cost-efficient maintenance in the life sciences industry, the company says. Lonza Engineering's initial geographic focus will be on the market in China, and may later be expanded to global markets. The business unit will also continue to provide its services to internal customers.

The business unit will operate as a subsidiary of Lonza Group and the management team of the new company will consist of current Lonza employees from Switzerland and China.

"This new business unit is a logical expansion of our existing strengths in manufacturing of complex products. We have built chemical and biotech plants around the world, at very high levels of quality and regulatory compliance," said Lukas Utiger, head of life science ingredients.

"We have built strong project management and maintenance experience in China since the mid 1990s for the construction and maintenance of cGMP and Food GMP plants, which have been certified by global regulators."