Lonza lays out $100m+ for ADC firm Synaffix

“We have acquired Synaffix to strengthen our CDMO offering for antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) services, including enhancing our discovery research offering,” says Lonza.

Lonza has paid €100 million ($107 million) upfront to acquire Dutch firm Synaffix, adding an ADC technology platform and R&D capabilities, including payload and site-specific linker technology. A further €60 million could be laid out based on additional performance-based consideration.

“The acquisition expands our ADC services to include development technology, including payload and site-specific linker technology, completing an end-to-end solution for customers,” Ulrich Osswald, VP of Licensing at Lonza told BioProcess Insider.

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The Swiss contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) is a self-proclaimed “pioneer in bioconjugation,” having been involved in the space since 2006 and publicly named as the CDMO for the majority of approved ADC products.

“Synaffix will form part of Lonza’s ADC offering, a cross-divisional solution encompassing all elements of the complex supply chain, from discovery to commercialization. As a Lonza company, Synaffix will continue to operate under the Synaffix name and further expand its operations at leased facilities in Oss (The Netherlands) to cater for further innovation and growth.”

Recent efforts to boost Lonza’s ADC toolbox include the license and integration of Simris’s payload technology, and the transfer of Korean biotech AbTis’ AbClick bioconjugation platform. The CDMO has also invested across its inhouse ADC production capabilities, expanding Highly Potent API (HPAPI) capacity, and bioconjugation suites in Visp, Switzerland and elsewhere.

“We identified a clear investment case for acquiring Synaffix (as opposed to only licensing the technologies). Synaffix is a profitable technology company with further growth potential driven primarily via ongoing technology out-licensing and technology-related manufacturing revenues. Revenues and EBITDA upside will be recognized from the date of acquisition.”

It is unlikely ADC investment and M&A momentum will slow down at Lonza. “We have served customers in the ADC segment since 2007, and ADCs remain an important and fast-growing market for Lonza,” Osswald said. “The investment in Synaffix is reflective of the strategic position of ADCs within our wider company portfolio.”