Chemicals and biotech firm Lonza Group is buying a sterile drug production facility in Switzerland from pharmaceutical giant Novartis.

Lonza, which has a secondary listing on the Singapore Exchange (SGX), said yesterday that it has entered into a binding contractual commitment for the acquisition, but did not disclose the price. The transaction is expected to be completed within the coming months.

Lonza will use the facility to make drug products for Novartis and to provide production capacity for its additional customers.

Novartis uses the centre to manufacture drug products for Phase 1 to 3 clinical trials.

The new facility will enable Lonza to build on existing parenteral drug development and testing capabilities, and to offer an end-to-end service to its customers for clinical supply and launch.

Parenteral drugs are administered by non-oral means, such as through injection or infusion.

"Combined with our development services, this manufacturing facility will provide our customers with shorter timelines to the clinic and best-in-class quality for parenteral product development through commercialisation," said Ms Karen Fallen, head of mammalian and microbial development and manufacturing at Lonza Pharma & Biotech.

Lonza requested a trading halt on the SGX during the midday break yesterday. Lonza and Novartis are both listed in Switzerland and based in Basel.