Lonza back-pedals on plans to expand to Oxford
Swiss pharma manufacturing firm Lonza has withdrawn its plans to establish a hub in Oxford.
The company was previously in talks to move into a “lab-ready” 25,457 sq ft space within the Iversen Building on the Oxford Science Park.
The expansion would have marked Lonza’s fourth location in the UK, adding to its facilities in Cambridge, Slough and Manchester.
Swiss pharma manufacturing firm Lonza has withdrawn its plans to establish a hub in Oxford.
The company was previously in talks to move into a “lab-ready” 25,457 sq ft space within the Iversen Building on the Oxford Science Park.
The expansion would have marked Lonza’s fourth location in the UK, adding to its facilities in Cambridge, Slough and Manchester.
However, its plans have been hindered by the unexpected departure of chief executive Pierre-Alain Ruffieux in September last year and poor financial performance over the course of 2023, according to market sources.
At the end of January, Lonza reported pretax profit of SFr790m (£712.8m) for the 12 months ended 31 December, compared with an equivalent of just over SFr1.4bn in 2022. The results were due to a sharp increase in the costs of goods sold, which went up to SFr4.7bn from SFr3.8bn year-on-year.
Overall sales rose to SFr6.7bn in 2023 from SFr6.2bn a year earlier, driven by the biologics and small molecules divisions. Lonza said it expected to deliver a flat sales performance in 2024.
Although it has scaled back on its Oxford expansion, Lonza closed its deal to buy the former British Gas headquarters at the Thames Valley Park in Reading in October, and is said to be progressing in its search for a partner to turn the site into a high-spec manufacturing facility.
Image © Oxford Science Park
