NextPharma completes purchase of Lonza lipid oral dosage form manufacturing sites

The Edinburgh site

Ploermel and Edinburgh facilities employ around 390 permanent staff and will allow UK CDMO to expand its technology offering

The companies had announced the agreement for the sales of the Ploermel (France) and Edinburgh (UK) facilities back in January. The two sites employ around 260 and 130 permanent staff respectively, produce liquid-filled hard capsules (including Licaps) and softgels (including for high potent and hormonal products) for the pharmaceutical and consumer health and nutrition markets.

The purchase will allow NextPharma – which currently specializes in oral and topical (including sterile ophthalmic) finished dosage forms – to develop and broaden its technology offering into lipid-based finished dosage forms on top of high potency capabilities and new chemical entity development services.

Meanwhile, Swiss CDMO Lonza is exiting both softgels and liquid-filled hard capsules for the pharma market, aside from retaining capability for feasibility studies as part of a technology selection offering.

“The strategic divestment of our Ploermel and Edinburgh sites will enable NextPharma to benefit from operational synergies and optimize existing expertise and technologies,” said Gordon Bates, Lonza’s President and Head of Small Molecules.

NextPharma currently has five sites in Germany, one in France and one in Finland, as well as healthcare logistics services in the DACH region.