750 Solano County jobs could be spared with $1.2 billion Genentech campus planned sale to Lonza; half-billion in upgrades planned
A boost to the life sciences industry in the North Bay, Swiss drug maker Lonza is buying Genentech’s Vacaville campus, what’s said to be among the world’s largest biopharmaceutical manufacturing sites, for $1.2 billion, the companies announced Wednesday.
Lonza (ticker LONN.S) said it also plans to invest over $500 million to upgrade the facility. The 427,000-square-foot campus anchors the Solano County biopharmaceutical cluster and has been on the market since the middle of last year, the Business Journal had reported at the time.
Genentech, a global pharmaceutical firm, unloaded the production plant in Vacaville when its parent company, Roche Group, planned to move the “large scale” production to one of its newer facilities. Roche bought Genentech in 2009.
The Vacaville site, located on New Horizons Way, was valued at $250 million at the time Roche placed it on the market. Local real estate experts said this could be the North Bay’s biggest commercial property sale ever.
The latest manufacturing agreement with Lonza involves “quality services and warehousing,” according to Genentech. The plant’s 750 Genentech employees will be offered employment as part of the deal.
“We decided to divest our Vacaville site as part of our long-term network strategy and optimization plan to deliver a more diversified portfolio including new drug modalities,” Genentech Global Head of Pharma Technical Operations Susanne Hundsbaek-Pedersen said in the news release. “We believe Lonza is the ideal owner for the Vacaville site to continue producing innovative medicines for patients in need.”
Regulatory approvals are necessary. The acquisition is expected to close in the second half of 2024.
Roche’s Pharmaceutical Division, of which Genentech is part, reported $47.7 billion in global sales in 2022. U.S. sales are about half that, which includes those of Genentech and other U.S. affiliates.
Founded in 1897, Lonza is based in Basel, Switzerland with $6.2 billion in global sales and 17,500 employees. Roche is also based in Switzerland.
“The Vacaville site is a highly valuable strategic acquisition that will make capacity immediately available for customers and unlock future growth four our Biologics division,” Lonza Biologics group President Jean-Christophe Hyvert said in the news release.
Susan Wood covers law, cannabis, production, tech, energy, transportation, agriculture as well as banking and finance. She can be reached at 530-545-8662 or susan.wood@busjrnl.com .
