Lonza

History

YearDetail
1897 The company was founded.
1898 The Gampel 1 power station began producing carbide.
1903 The company started working on two other carbide plants. 
1917 Lonza and the Swiss Alcohol Board signed a contract allowing the government to buy an annual alcohol volume equivalent to pre-war requirements.
1917 The company opened a new acetylene plant in Visp.
1927 The company began making nitric acid for fertilizers.
1934 The company began making acetate silk.
1948 The company acquired a 50% stake in Salanfe SA.
1956 The company formed subsidiaries such as Airex AG.
1968 Opened a new fertilizer plant with automated lines and expanded storage facilities.
1969 Business expansion in the U.S.
1974 Lonza merged with its business partner, Alusuisse.
1984 Lonza opened a new fine chemicals complex in Visp.
1992 Expanded into Central Europe by purchasing the Czechoslovakian State Research Institute for Biofactors and Veterinary Drugs.
1996 The company acquired Celltech Biologics.
1997 Lonza demerged from Alusuisse and was listed independently on the Swiss stock exchange.
2019 Lonza signed an agreement for Ibex Solutions in Visp. 
2020 Lonza entered into a ten-year collaboration agreement with Moderna Inc.
2023 Lonza completes the expansion of the conjugation facility in Visp.
2024 Lonza Signs agreement to acquire large-scale biologics site in Vacaville (U.S.) from Roche.