Lonza Acquires Micro-Macinazione to Create the Global Leader in Micronization Capacity and Capabilities

Lonza has acquired Micro-Macinazione, one of Europe’s leading contract manufacturers providing micronization of active ingredients for the pharmaceutical and fine chemical industries. Micro-Macinazione, which had sales of ~ CHF 20 million in 2016, has 120 employees and is based in Monteggio, Switzerland. Micro-Macinazione was purchased from Cross and the acquisition was completed on 26th July 2017. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.

The acquisition of Micro-Macinazione creates the global leader in the field of micronization services by building on Lonza/Capsugel’s existing micronization clinical and commercial manufacturing capabilities that are based in Quakertown, PA (USA). Lonza/Capsugel strengthened its micronization offering to customers in January 2016 when it acquired Powdersize and has since invested in significant additional capacity at this site which came on stream in early 2017.

Lonza’s Pharma&Biotech COO, Marc Funk, commented: “With the acquisition of Micro-Macinazione, Lonza becomes the largest and most diversified provider of micronization services to the pharmaceutical industry. Micronization is an attractive technology for Lonza given its applications across many of the high growth areas of the pharma market. Micro-Macinazione provides micronization technology and expertise that complements our existing US capabilities and provides significant additional capacity to support our growth. Its micronization technology can also add value to other areas of Lonza’ business, including Health & Nutrition ingredients and excipients, enhancing the appeal of this bolt-on acquisition, which strengthens our position across the healthcare continuum.”

Lonza’s Pharma&Biotech customers are increasingly looking for external partners to help them assess early-stage compounds and to improve product design by using micronization and sub-micronization to address key challenges of active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) development. A key focus for the new combined business will be highly potent APIs (HPAPIs) where Micro-Macinaziones’s pilot to commercial scale HPAPI offerings and Lonza’s recent HPAPI capacity expansion at Quakertown, provide the capacity and expertise needed to serve this growing area of the pharmaceutical market.

Micronization via jet milling is an established technique for enhancing the overall bioavailability of drug products by reducing or controlling the particle size of the API. By improving bioavailability, lower drug doses can be prescribed, potentially reducing a patient’s side effects.

Markus Arigoni, CEO of Micro-Macinazione, commented: “Micro-Macinazione was founded in 1970 and has been a pioneer in the development of jet mill equipment and contract micronization services. We operate in a niche market with high growth expectations. Micronization is often seen as key to improving the bioavailability of the growing number of highly potent and complex APIs, which an increasing number of pharma and biotech companies are looking to develop. By combining with Lonza, we are creating a global leader with the ability to provide customers both in the US and Europe with access to the micronization technologies and manufacturing capabilities that they need to bring novel drugs to market faster and more efficiently.”