Swiss contract manufacturer Lonza prides itself on having a resilient and competitive global infrastructure with regional supply chains supporting emerging high-growth modalities, such as antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs). However, the company is lacking bioconjugation capabilities in the United States — a potential area of future investment.

The development of bioconjugates, particularly ADCs, is fueling the rapid growth of the global bioconjugation market. To succeed, contract development and manufacturing organizations (CDMOs) are looking to provide comprehensive services that include monoclonal antibody (mAb) production, high-potency active pharmaceutical ingredient synthesis, advanced bioconjugation, and sterile fill-finish drug product manufacturing.

A Frost & Sullivan report on ADCs and CDMOs described the state of the industry as one of “exponential” growth with a surge in regulatory approvals and a robust clinical pipeline driving unprecedented demand, while geopolitical tensions are forcing a strategic shift toward regional manufacturing.

“The most sought-after service is a fully integrated, end-to-end offering that can manage the entire complex manufacturing process (from the monoclonal antibody and highly potent chemical payload to the final conjugated drug product),” the report said, describing a “relentless drive toward vertical integration as CDMOs race to offer one-stop-shop solutions to eliminate the risks of a fragmented supply chain.”

Lonza’s Visp, Switzerland site is designed as an integrated end-to-end ADC manufacturing center serving customers with connected capabilities across multiple platforms, including mAb, payload, linker, and bioconjugation. In Europe, the company says regional supply and demand is “in balance” when it comes to its existing bioconjugation footprint, according to a company presentation to analysts earlier this month at its annual Capital Markets Day.

But the United States is quite a different story, according to Lonza CEO Wolfgang Wienand.

US bioconjugation gap   

While the company’s current global network enables regional supply chains to “serve a more fragmented world across key modalities” such as ADCs, Wienand noted a “few gaps you see actually in terms of what we want to do — and intend to do in the future — and where you might see potential future investments, especially for bioconjugation in the U.S.”

Wienand called the U.S. a “very attractive” bioconjugation market that is “undersupplied” in his estimation. Although he didn’t indicate what form future bioconjugation investment might take, Lonza has existing manufacturing locations in the U.S., including California, New Hampshire, Oregon, and Texas that the company could potentially expand.

“Visp [in Switzerland] is now the center of excellence and, of course, we are now looking at the U.S. with all the geopolitical dynamics,” Jan Vertommen, vice president and head of commercial development for Lonza’s Advanced Synthesis business unit, told Pharma Manufacturing. “We certainly want to have bioconjugation in the U.S. as well. We’re looking at internal options. We have sites where we could build these suites. But we are also looking at the greenfield option.”

According to a June 2026 press release from Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, Lonza is considering a potential $1 billion investment to build a new biomanufacturing facility in Williamsburg Township (Clermont County) — a capital project that “remains subject to successful due diligence and internal approvals” by Lonza’s Board of Directors.

At the same time, Wienand told analysts Lonza is “looking at a broad set of opportunities” where the CDMO “might acquire other businesses, including new modalities, but also underutilized pharma assets.” The company’s Advanced Synthesis business, which includes the manufacturing of ADCs and bioconjugates, is an area “where we would be ready to take on capacity” and is “now continuing to acquire technology,” he added.

Building an ADC toolbox

Lonza continues to increase its investment in infrastructure to support the complex, multi-step production process required to make ADCs.

“The ADC toolbox that we are currently building in our Advanced Synthesis business is market-leading” and “comprises everything that it takes to develop and manufacture” ADCs, according to Wienand. “It’s about payload, it’s about linkers, it’s about the mAb, it’s about drug product and the bioconjugation of all of it.”

Lonza has made investments to provide its customers with a range of ADC offerings in recent years, including the expansion of bioconjugation at its Visp site with two additional manufacturing suites.

Last month, the CDMO announced plans to expand payload-linker manufacturing capacity in Visp to support growing demand for ADC components. The investment will add payload-linker production and purification capabilities within an existing GMP facility, alongside dedicated analytical and process development laboratories.

Lonza’s Visp facility is designed for multipurpose use and scale-out, enabling flexible production of a broad range of highly potent payload-linker molecules with the option to add additional suites as demand grows.

“In Visp, we are building a set of multipurpose, highly potent payload linker suites, which are scheduled to commence ramp up in 2029,” Wienand told analysts during an analyst call in July. “We continue to see strong customer demand in this area, supporting our confidence in the long-term opportunity for this investment.”

At its Stein, Switzerland facility, Lonza is expanding commercial-scale aseptic ADC drug product capacity. Three years ago, the company extended a collaboration with a “major biopharma partner” for the commercial-scale filling of ADCs, with the construction of a dedicated filling line. In July, Lonza announced it is building a second commercial aseptic ADC filling line at the facility, which is expected to be operational in 2030.

“This investment marks another milestone in the continued expansion of Lonza’s integrated end-to-end offering and complements the dedicated commercial-scale aseptic ADC and the large-scale multi-purpose aseptic drug product facility in Stein, both currently under construction,” according to the company.   

Wienand told analysts earlier this month that Lonza has been able to bring commercial ADCs to market and claimed it is one of the few CDMOs in the world to have commercial capacity, with the expectation of continuing to “grow in this very attractive modality.”

While Wienand declined to share Lonza’s specific ADC market share, Vertommen told Pharma Manufacturing the company is “involved in more than half of the commercial products” in the market.