Lonza Delivers Strong H1 2026, Upgrades Full-Year CORE EBITDA Margin Guidance to 33–34%

H1 sales of CHF 3.4B with a CORE EBITDA margin of 34.8%; Advanced Synthesis posted CER sales growth of +27.7% with a 48.1% margin. The Visp large-scale mammalian facility began commercial operations, and a new ADC fill-finish line is being added in Stein.

On July 22, Lonza reported H1 2026 results: sales of CHF 3.4B and a CORE EBITDA margin of 34.8%. On the strength of all three business platforms, the company upgraded its 2026 CORE EBITDA margin guidance from "above 32%" to 33–34%, and confirmed CER sales growth guidance of 11–12%.

By platform: Integrated Biologics reported CER sales growth of +10.0% with a flat CORE EBITDA margin of 36.0%; the large-scale mammalian drug substance facility in Visp began commercial operations on schedule in H1. Lonza also expanded a strategic long-term collaboration with a leading US biopharmaceutical company, providing clinical and commercial biologics manufacturing across all of its US commercial-scale mammalian sites.

The standout was Advanced Synthesis: CER sales up 27.7% YoY, with the CORE EBITDA margin jumping 6.8 ppts to 48.1%, on strong small-molecules and bioconjugates demand, higher asset utilization and a favorable mix. Management cautioned that H2 growth will moderate against a significantly higher prior-year base.

On capacity investments, H1 capex was CHF 0.5B (15.7% of sales). The company simultaneously announced a new commercial-scale multi-purpose ADC filling line in Stein (operational 2030), supported by a long-term collaboration with a major pharmaceutical company for clinical and commercial ADC supply; the large-scale drug product facility's scope was extended to high-value small molecules with operations now expected in 2028. This follows June's announcement of expanded HPAPI and payload-linker capacity in Visp. At Vacaville (acquired from Roche in 2024), the first non-Roche product has been tech-transferred with first GMP batches produced.