BEDFORD, NH – Biotech company Lonza Portsmouth recently became the fifth founding member of New Hampshire Life Sciences, a trade association created to advance the emerging life sciences industry in the state.
The addition of Lonza Portsmouth brings a leader in the pharma and biotech industry into the organization to support its charge of advancing the life sciences industry across the state, NHLS said in a news release.
Lonza Portsmouth joins founding members Portsmouth-based a cancer drug manufacturer Novocure; Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk, which has offices in Lebanon; and Timberline Construction, which has offices in Merrimack. The state-wide life sciences association, was established in July 2023.
Lonza Portsmouth specializes in custom production of mammalian biopharmaceuticals and cell therapies. It’s “an industry leader in meeting the highly complex delivery of safe, timely, and innovative patient treatments,” the release said. The company employs more than 1,500 in the state and is part of Lonza, a Switzerland-based company that employs more than 18,000 in 30 locations on five contintents.
Lonza “is committed to enabling a healthier world,” Andrea Hechavarria, NHLS president and CEO said. “We are delighted to welcome Lonza Portsmouth as our fifth founding member of NHLS.”
Christophe Royer, Lonza Portsmouth’s site head, said the company has a long history and established reputation for cutting-edge development of life-saving and life-enhancing medicines.
“We are proud to join NH Life Sciences as a founding member, and to contribute to the growth of the life sciences industry here in New Hampshire,” Royer said.
“The founding membership is really significant,” Hechavarria told Ink Link in July. “It’s a group of companies that have come together that have footprints in New Hampshire that are committed to advancing the life sciences in New Hampshire, and see the opportunity and see that there are challenges that we can solve together, and really wanting to promote the industry in the state. And within that, helping to attract talent and retain that talent.”
NHLS held its inaugural Live Free Life Science event in Salem Wednesday as a way to also highlight Innovation District at Tuscan as a future home for life sciences companies looking to grow and expand in the state, NHLS said in a release.
Hechavarria said the event comes after a successful year of building membership and increasing awareness about the opportunity for industry growth in the state, and was an opportunity to showcase the strength of the industry to the region, including why New Hampshire is “such an attractive destination for life sciences companies.”
Lonza was founded in 1897 as a joint stock company to establish and expand the hydroelectric power of the River Lonza for the establishment of electrochemical and electro metallurgical products, according to its website. As it expanded to new products after World War I, it eventually became a global company that supports pharmaceutical, biotech, and nutrition companies in developing and bringing treatments to market.