Lonza Will Buy Genentech Site

Contract manufacturer Lonza has agreed to pay $150 million for Genentech's biologics manufacturing facility in Porrino, Spain.

The 40,000 L of mammalian cell culture capacity at the Porrino site, which Genentech purchased from Glaxo Wellcome in 2000, is currently dedicated to the production of Genentech's cancer drug Avastin. Lonza will continue to make Avastin there under a short-term supply agreement.

Lonza has also agreed to add an 80,000-L cell culture facility to its site in Singapore, where an 80,000-L plant is already under construction. Genentech has an exclusive option to acquire this addition in Singapore anytime between 2007 and 2012, for $290 million plus an additional $70 million in performance milestones.

This deal includes a separate supply agreement for Avastin and other Genentech oncology products to be made in Singapore. Lonza already manufactures Rituxan, Genentech's oncology treatment, at its site in Portsmouth, N.H.