Lonza is expanding its developmental capabilities in its Drug Product Services (DPS) business. The investment is set to expand both capability and capacity of DPS at the company’s facility in Basel, Switzerland and create more than 50 new positions. The expanded offering includes new capabilities for drug-product process development.

DPS opened its laboratories in November 2016 with an initial focus on formulation development and drug-product analytical development. This facility was recently granted a good manufacturing practice license after an audit by Swissmedic, the Swiss regulatory agency that authorizes and supervises therapeutic products, to allow for quality-control release and stability testing of drug products.

The DPS team provides services for parenteral dosage forms, including products for injection and infusion for intravenous, subcutaneous, and intraocular routes of administration. Its offerings include services for the following: particulate identification, characterization and quantification; excipient and surfactant characterization; extractables and leachables assessment; and container-closure integrity testing.

Following the opening of the DPS facilities in 2016, Lonza made a large play to boost its drug-product development capabilities through its $5.5-billion acquisition of Capsugel, a provider of dosage forms, a deal completed in July 2017. With the acquisition of Capsugel, Lonza positions itself in the drug-product services sector by gaining oral dosage delivery technologies, including a position in hard-capsule technologies.

Source: Lonza