Basel, 3 July 2008 – Lonza Group (SWX:LONN) announces that it has completed the acquisition of amaxa as of 2 July 2008. The transaction was announced at the end of May 2008.
The acquisition of amaxa is in line with Lonza’s strategy of growing its life-science platform. amaxa is a premium supplier to the cell discovery market with leading edge, proprietary technologies in well defined market niches of transfection systems. The deal further strengthens Lonza’s position as a worldwide leader in cell discovery by integrating this unique, proprietary technology into its portfolio and by continuing to develop the company’s activities.
Commencing today, Lonza will start integrating amaxa and its approximately 160 employees into the existing structure of the company.
About Lonza
Lonza is one of the world's leading suppliers to the pharmaceutical, healthcare and life science industries. Its products and services span its customers’ needs from research to final product manufacture. Lonza is the global leader in the production and support of active pharmaceutical ingredients both chemically as well as biotechnologically. Biopharmaceuticals are one of the key growth drivers of the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. Lonza has strong capabilities in large and small molecules, peptides, amino acids and niche bioproducts which play an important role in the development of novel medicines and healthcare products. Lonza is a leader in cell-based research, endotoxin detection and cell therapy manufacturing. Lonza is also a leading provider of value chemical and biotech ingredients to the nutrition, hygiene, preservation, agro and personal care markets.
Lonza is headquartered in Basel, Switzerland and is listed on the SWX Swiss Exchange. In 2007, Lonza had sales of CHF 2.87 billion. Further information can be found at www.lonza.com.
About amaxa
As a globally active leader in transfection technologies, amaxa is dedicated to enhancing the speed and quality of basic and pharmaceutical research in gene transfer, gene silencing, and gene-based medicine. amaxa’s Nucleofector® Technology provides the first efficient non-viral method for the transfer of DNA or siRNA directly into the nucleus of primary cells and hard-to-transfect cell lines. Based on electroporation, Nucleofection® utilizes novel and unique electrical parameters generated by a special Nucleofector® Device. These are combined with different, cell type specific reagents. amaxa is the worldwide market leader in the segment of primary cell transfection. Founded in 1998, amaxa is located in Cologne, Germany, and in Gaithersburg, MD, USA, and currently employs 160 people. The company's research team is one of the largest R&D groups working on non-viral gene transfer. For more information please visit www.amaxa.com.
For further Information:
Lonza:
Head Corporate Communications
Janet White
Tel +41 61 316 8566
Fax +41 61 316 9566
janet.white@lonza.com
Media Relations
Dominik Werner
Tel +41 61 316 8798
Fax +41 61 316 9798
dominik.werner@lonza.com
Investor Relations
Alexandre Pasini
Tel +41 61 316 8835
Fax +41 61 316 9835
alexandre.pasini@lonza.com
