Denmark-based Chr. Hansen Holding A/S and Lonza AG have signed an agreement to establish a 50/50 joint venture to pioneer the live biotherapeutic products (LBPs) industry and position themselves as the leading contract development and manufacturing partner (CDMO) for biotech and pharma customers. The joint venture will be a 50/50 controlled legal entity that will operate from Lonza’s headquarters in Basel, Switzerlandand have production facilities in Denmark and Switzerland.
The joint venture brings together best-in-class, complementary capabilities and will be the first CDMO globally to provide a full supply chain that offers manufacturing of bacteria strains for therapeutic use. While Chr. Hansen contributes its know-how in developing, upscaling and manufacturing bacteria strains, Lonza brings capabilities in pharma contract manufacturing and formulation and drug delivery technologies, including the enTRinsic capsules.
Furthermore, the joint venture will possess leading competences in handling, characterizing, formulating, manufacturing and encapsulating strict anaerobe bacteria. These competences under one roof, with seamless exchanges between drug substance and drug product activities, will decrease development timelines and increase chance of “right-first-time.”
“We need to think differently about how we develop solutions for manufacturing in the microbiome space as we see the potential of this therapeutic area develop,” said Marc Funk, CEO, Lonza Group. “By teaming up with Chr. Hansen, one of the world’s largest producers of bacteria, we are combining expertise that perfectly fits the very specific needs of aspirational companies in the microbiome space.”
“The joint venture is a quantum leap for Chr. Hansen’s human microbiome lighthouse. It’s a great opportunity to utilize our microbial capabilities in the highly attractive LBP industry whilst sticking to our strategy of not becoming a fully fledged pharma company,” added Mauricio Graber, CEO of Chr. Hansen.
For more information, visit www.lonza.com or www.chr-hansen.com/en.
