Lonza breaks ground on Vertex diabetes cell therapy plant

CDMO Lonza began work this week on the 130,000 square-foot facility set to support Vertex’s cell therapies for type 1 diabetes.

A groundbreaking ceremony was held this week for the dedicated facility, first announced in June, located adjacent to Lonza’s campus in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

The dedicated facility will support Vertex’s type 1 diabetes candidates, including VX-880, fresh from producing positive results in an ongoing Phase I/II study. VX-880 is an investigative allogeneic cell therapy, acquired through the Semma Therapeutics acquisition in 2019.

Artist’s rendering of the dedicated Vertex plant in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
Image c/o Lonza

Additionally, the facility will support VX-264, another therapy for type 1 diabetes, designed to protect cells with a surgically implanted device, eliminating the need for immunosuppressive therapy.

Vertex CEO Reshma Kewalramani described the groundbreaking ceremony as “an exciting day for both Vertex and Lonza and for patients living with type 1 diabetes.”

The additional capacity expansion follows Vertex’s investments in its manufacturing network, including the Jeffrey Leiden Center for Cell and Genetic Therapies in Boston, which opened in May 2022, and a $595 million, 344,000 square-foot expansion underway at the same site.

The Portsmouth site has been a major bioproduction site for contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) Lonza for over 20 years.

In May 2021, invested $220 million at the site, adding eight 2,000 L single-use bioreactors. In addition to its mammalian cell culture capabilities, the site boasts 25,000 square feet dedicated to allogeneic and autologous cell therapy manufacturing.

The company recently confirmed plans for further production expansion earlier this year. According to the New Hampshire Business Finance Authority, Lonza is set to acquire an additional 43-acre parcel of land to accommodate the construction of three new buildings, totaling approximately 1 million square feet.