Esteve CDMO is the new brand
Spanish pharmaceuticals and contract manufacturing firm Esteve officially launched its new‘ Esteve CDMO’ brand at DCAT Week in New York in late March. The company said that this will establish“ a strong and consistent global identity that allows it to establish a unique and distinctive persona, communicate the values that govern its corporate culture and interact clearly and meaningfully with its stakeholders”.
Simultaneously, Esteve announced the build-out of a new building at its facility in Celrà, near Girona. This comprises a 3,000 m 2 production unit for additional spray drying equipment and services within purpose-built, high-potency containment suites( pictured). GEA Pharma PSD-2 and PSD-3 spray dryers will be installed next year, with two PDS-4s to follow later.
Shortly beforehand, Esteve CDMO began a $ 15.5-million investment to enhance the capabilities of the facility in Morton Grove, Illinois, it acquired in July 2025. This will be completed within 2026. It includes adding powder transfer systems and distillation tanks to reactors, plus jacket insulation and a single thermal fluid circuit to enhance thermal management and broaden their operational range to between-15 and + 140 º C and simplify validation under GMP conditions.
Lonza becomes pure-play CDMO
Lonza has entered into a definitive agreement to divest its Capsules & Health Ingredients( CHI) business to Lone Star Funds for an enterprise value of $ 3 billion. The transaction is expected to close in 2H, subject to regulatory approvals and completing the legal separation of CHI.
The company described this as“ the last and most significant step” in its transformation to a pure-play CDMO after two years of changes. It is also selling its Personalised Medicines business including the Cocoon Platform, to Octane Medical Group, the Moda software platform to the parent company of Starlims and the small molecule micronisation site in Monteggio, Switzerland, to Microsize and Schedio Group.
Under the terms of the CHI deal, Lonza will receive $ 2.2 billion in cash and retain a 40 % stake, with“ additional preferential participation in its future exit”, depending on Lone Star receiving an initial return equal to its equity investment. This could raise final proceeds to around $ 4 billion in total.
Lonza subsequently announced a clinical supply agreement for bimiralisib, Torqur’ s lead drug candidate for oncology and other indications, notably the treatment of actinic keratosis. This will be made at the company’ s HPAPI facilities in Visp( pictured) in Switzerland and Nansha, China.
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