Lonza Announces Formation Of New R&D Innovation Center In Israel
Lonza recently announced the establishment of the Lonza Collaborative Innovation Center (CIC) in the new Life Science Park in the outskirts of Haifa, Israel.
The CIC will begin operating in Q4 2017 and span close to 1,000 square meters. It is expected to hire 15-20 staff members in 2018 to leverage Israel’s scientific strengths in areas such as engineering, software and cell/molecular biology to provide Lonza opportunities to gain additional know-how and capabilities. With the launch of the CIC, Lonza aims to accelerate leading Research & Development (R&D) projects from across Lonza's Pharma&Biotech segment, as well as tap into potentially transformative biological and manufacturing capabilities.
“Through its growing reputation as a biotech hub, Israel offers Lonza an opportunity to expand our capabilities and bring transformative technologies and offerings to Lonza Pharma&Biotech customers. That's why we chose to establish the Lonza Collaborative Innovation Center in Israel,” said Marc Funk, COO for Lonza's Pharma&Biotech segment, who is the chairman of the board of the newly incorporated local entity.
“At Lonza we enable our customers to meet some of the greatest challenges in patient treatment. The medicines and research tools of tomorrow are often highly complex, posing new challenges to the way they can be developed and manufactured," he added.
The CIC will have a dedicated Lonza R&D team in Israel, who will work with local industry and academic experts through collaborations and sponsored research. Lonza has already signed memorandums of understanding and conducted talent scouting at Tel Aviv University, Technion R&D Foundation and the Weizmann Institute of Science.
"Lonza strives to work with the brightest talent in house and through collaborations with leading scientists and companies to ensure our position as the leading pharma and biotech CDMO and bioresearch provider," Funk said. "We aim to be at the forefront of providing the appropriate innovative technologies in order to manufacture medicines safely and in a timely manner and to deliver the medicines of tomorrow, today."
Eytan Abraham, Research & Development Associate Director at Lonza, will take responsibility for setting up the center. Roee Atlas has been recently hired to manage the center.