Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on January 28, 2026
2 min readLast updated: January 29, 2026
Lonza is nearing the sale of its capsule and health ingredients business to focus on drug manufacturing, with potential buyers including Lone Star.
(In story published on January 28, corrects paragraph 1 to say the company is in discussion with multiple buyers)
By Bernadette Hogg and Orest Dovhan
Jan 28 (Reuters) - Swiss contract drug manufacturer Lonza is in talks with potential buyers for its capsules and health ingredients business, its finance chief said on Wednesday, without naming the other parties.
"This is not an endless process anymore," CFO Philippe Deecke told reporters after Lonza reported its full-year results. He refused to give an estimate for the expected price of the business.
The company has been seeking to exit the capsules and health ingredients business since December 2024, with an aim to focus solely on its core contract drug manufacturing offering.
Bloomberg News reported in November that investment firms Lone Star, Altaris and One Rock were among the bidders for the business, which makes hard empty capsules used in medications and dietary supplements and health ingredients for human and animal nutrition.
The business, which Lonza reported as discontinued operations on Wednesday, saw a return to growth in 2025, with sales rising 3.9% in constant currencies.
Growth was particularly strong in the second half of the year, at 8% based on constant exchange rates.
Deecke said there were no surprises in the 2025 results, which meant the story had not changed for interested parties.
(Reporting by Bernadette Hogg and Orest Dovhan in Gdansk, editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak)
A contract drug manufacturer is a company that produces pharmaceutical products for other companies, typically under a contractual agreement, allowing them to focus on their core business activities.
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