Lonza to Acquire Five U.S. CDMO Sites from Germany's Merck, Expanding U.S. Production Footprint from 4 to 9

Transaction expected to close in mid-2027
ADC production capabilities to expand as 1,100 employees join

Swiss company Lonza, the world's largest contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO), will acquire German company Merck's U.S. CDMO business. The deal is valued in the mid-hundreds of millions of euros (around 500 million euros, or approximately 750 billion won).

According to industry sources and the Korea Biotechnology Industry Organization, among others, Merck signed a definitive agreement on November 3 to sell its CDMO business within its Life Science business sector to Lonza. The transaction is expected to close in mid-2027, subject to closing conditions, including regulatory approval.

A view of Lonza's headquarters in Basel-Stadt, Switzerland. Lonza

The acquisition includes CDMO operations at five sites: Carlsbad, California; Madison and Verona, Wisconsin; St. Louis, Missouri, which houses a bioconjugation CDMO business; and Indianapolis, Indiana. Merck's BioReliance contract testing services are excluded from the transaction.

Merck said the decision is aimed at focusing its portfolio on areas that are innovation-driven and have high value-creation potential. After the transaction closes, it plans to continue supplying consumables, technologies, and services used in the development and manufacture of biopharmaceuticals to pharmaceutical, biotech, and CDMO customers, including Lonza.

The acquisition will increase Lonza's U.S. production sites from four to nine. The acquired facilities will support customers from clinical development through commercialization in areas including bioconjugates such as antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), viral vectors for cell and gene therapies, and advanced drug-delivery technologies. About 1,100 employees are expected to join Lonza, bringing its U.S. workforce to more than 6,000.

Meanwhile, Samsung Biologics' planned acquisition of Switzerland-based Polypeptide for 1.46 billion Swiss francs (approximately 2.39 trillion won) is expected to be completed as early as this year. It is the largest transaction in South Korea's biopharmaceutical industry.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.