The logo of Swiss contract drug maker Lonza is seen at its headquarters in Basel, Switzerland October 1, 2020. REUTERS
Jan 28 (Reuters) – Lonza the world’s largest contract drug manufacturer, on Wednesday set 2026 targets for its contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) business, expecting slower sales growth of 11% to 12% at constant exchange rates and for its core profit margin to expand to above 32% of sales.
The Swiss company added it expected sales growth to be higher in the first half of 2026 than in the second half.
In 2025, the CDMO business, which was split off from the capsule and health ingredients (CHI) business which Lonza is planning to sell, saw its sales grow 21.7% in constant currency to 6.5 billion Swiss francs ($8.5 billion).
Analysts were expecting sales in the core business to grow 20.7% to 6.49 billion francs, a poll compiled by Vara showed.
Lonza said sales growth was driven by a higher than expected contribution from its Vacaville site in California and good momentum across its mammalian, bioconjugates, small molecules, drug product and bioscience technology platforms.
The Basel-based group said its core profit margin, or ratio of earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation to sales in the continuing business, was 31.6% in 2025, above the 30.7% expected by analysts.
Reporting by Bernadette Hogg and Orest Dovhan in Gdansk, editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak
