Bär & Karrer Advises Lonza on the Entering into a Strategic Joint Venture with Chr. Hansen for Deve

On 2 April 2019, Lonza, a leading pharma contract
manufacturing company, and Chr. Hansen, a leading global bioscience company,
announced that they have signed an agreement to establish a 50/50 joint venture
to pioneer the live biotherapeutic products (LBPs) industry and position
themselves as the leading contract development and manufacturing partner (CDMO)
for biotech and pharma customers. The joint venture brings together
best-in-class, complementary capabilities and will be the first CDMO globally
to provide a full supply chain that offers manufacturing of bacteria strains
for therapeutic use. The joint venture will be a 50/50 controlled legal
entity that will operate from its headquarters in Basel (CH) and have
production facilities in Denmark and Switzerland. A phased investment of
approximately EUR 90 million will be deployed over three years to build
cGMP-compliant pharma production capabilities. The joint venture will upgrade
existing facilities in Hørsholm (DK) and equip new facilities in Basel (CH) to
serve pre-clinical to phase II projects. Further facilities for phase III and
commercial manufacturing will be developed as the pipeline matures. The joint venture
is expected to be largely self-funding after the production set-up has been
established.

Bär & Karrer acts as legal advisor to Lonza. The
team includes Urs Kägi, Nadina Duss, Michael Bänziger, Matthias Tanner (all
M&A/Corporate and Commercial) and Markus Wang (IP).

On 2 April 2019, Lonza, a leading pharma contract
manufacturing company, and Chr. Hansen, a leading global bioscience company,
announced that they have signed an agreement to establish a 50/50 joint venture
to pioneer the live biotherapeutic products (LBPs) industry and position
themselves as the leading contract development and manufacturing partner (CDMO)
for biotech and pharma customers. The joint venture brings together
best-in-class, complementary capabilities and will be the first CDMO globally
to provide a full supply chain that offers manufacturing of bacteria strains
for therapeutic use. The joint venture will be a 50/50 controlled legal
entity that will operate from its headquarters in Basel (CH) and have
production facilities in Denmark and Switzerland. A phased investment of
approximately EUR 90 million will be deployed over three years to build
cGMP-compliant pharma production capabilities. The joint venture will upgrade
existing facilities in Hørsholm (DK) and equip new facilities in Basel (CH) to
serve pre-clinical to phase II projects. Further facilities for phase III and
commercial manufacturing will be developed as the pipeline matures. The joint venture
is expected to be largely self-funding after the production set-up has been
established.

Bär & Karrer acts as legal advisor to Lonza. The
team includes Urs Kägi, Nadina Duss, Michael Bänziger, Matthias Tanner (all
M&A/Corporate and Commercial) and Markus Wang (IP).