Lonza invests in new manufacturing facility for L-Carnitine products Carnipure and Carniking

Basel, Switzerland, 30 March 2010 – Lonza announced today its expansion of capacities for Carnipure™ and Carniking™, L-Carnitine products belonging to Lonza’s Nutrition business within Life Science Ingredients. The expansion is in line with Lonza’s long-term strategy for nutrition ingredients and will support the increasing demand for L-Carnitine applications in the food, feed and pharmaceutical industries.



Lukas Utiger, COO Lonza Life Science Ingredients, commented, “Carnipure™ and Carniking™ have experienced a surge in demand in the last few years due to strong scientific evidence, favorable regulatory status and appeal to end consumers. New capacities for Carnipure™ and Carniking™ will allow us to meet our customers’ future demands in new and fast-growing markets, thus securing our long-term leadership in this business.”



The new capacity will be added to Lonza’s existing facilities in Nansha, located in China’s southern province of Guangdong. The strategic proximity to Guangzhou and Hong Kong as well as new market growth and opportunities for organizational synergies were taken into consideration for the plant location. The capacity will be added in phases, with the first phase expected to come on-line by the end of 2010. The new Carnipure™ and Carniking™ facility will be ISO 9001, 14001, 22000 and FAMI-QS certified and operate under the implementation of Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) principles. The new proprietary production process was invented by Lonza scientists in Visp, Switzerland, and has subsequently been filed for patent protection. It will have a positive environmental footprint compared to other currently used processes in the industry. The specifications of Carnipure™ and Carniking™ will remain unchanged.



In Nansha Lonza currently operates a fully integrated site with state-of-the-art facilities for Nicotinates (Vitamin B3) as well as small and large scale cGMP production of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API’s). In addition, R&D Services are supported by 70 scientists working in a 1000 m2 lab. These facilities have been successfully audited by numerous customers.

About Carnipure™ and Carniking™



Carnipure™ (for use in Human Nutrition) and Carniking™ (for use in Animal Nutrition) are trademarks of Lonza Ltd., Switzerland. Products carrying the Carnipure™ or Carniking™ Quality Seal show that they contain high quality product from Lonza. Lonza has proven the efficacy of its Carnipure™ and Carniking™ products in numerous scientific studies and has significantly contributed to educating end-consumers around the globe about the health benefits of these products.



About Lonza

Lonza is one of the world’s leading suppliers to the pharmaceutical, healthcare and life science industries. Its products and services span its customers’ needs from research to final product manufacture. Lonza is the global leader in the production and support of active pharmaceutical ingredients both chemically as well as biotechnologically.



Biopharmaceuticals are one of the key growth drivers of the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. Lonza has strong capabilities in large and small molecules, peptides, amino acids and niche bioproducts which play an important role in the development of novel medicines and healthcare products. Lonza is a leader in cell-based research, endotoxin detection and cell therapy manufacturing. Lonza is also a leading provider of value chemical and biotech ingredients to the nutrition, hygiene, preservation, agro and personal care markets.



Lonza is headquartered in Basel, Switzerland and is listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange. In 2009, Lonza had sales of CHF 2.69 billion. Further information can be found at www.lonza.com.