Peptide CDMO announced investments have crossed $2.4 billion year-to-date in 2026, driven primarily by GLP-1 demand and a broadening pipeline of therapeutic peptides beyond the incretin class. Anchor programs: Samsung Biologics' CHF 1.46 billion / $1.8 billion all-cash tender offer for PolyPeptide Group AG (tender prospectus targeted for end-of-August publication, offer period September 15 to October 12); Bachem's more than CHF 500 million Sisslerfeld greenfield site collaboration in Switzerland (commercial production 2030) plus the recent Building K commercial GMP ramp; CordenPharma's confirmed $500 million Boulder expansion to 42,000+ liters by 2028 plus greater-than-€500 million greenfield near Basel; AmbioPharm's US-based supply scaling; and Lonza's SPPS capacity extensions. The global peptide CDMO market reached $4.59 billion in 2025 and is projected to reach $29.12 billion by 2035 (CAGR 20.3%) according to newly-published market research. The build-out is the binding upstream constraint on how much of the GLP-1, macrocyclic, and peptide-drug-conjugate pipeline reaches commercial scale.
Lonza (SIX: LONN) reported first-half 2026 earnings Wednesday July 22, 2026: sales of CHF 3.37 billion (up 11.2% at actual exchange rate, up 16.0% at constant exchange rate), CHF 595 million profit (CHF 8.18 per share) versus CHF 426 million (CHF 5.68 per share) in H1 2025, and CHF 1.2 billion core EBITDA (up 27.4% year-over-year) at a 34.8% margin (up 4.4 percentage points). The Advanced Synthesis division, which houses small-molecule and bioconjugate manufacturing, delivered 27.7% CER sales growth driven by demand for small-molecule and bioconjugate products; the Integrated Biologics division grew 10% CER. Lonza lifted its full-year 2026 margin outlook and confirmed CDMO capacity expansion in Stein, Switzerland following a major-pharma ADC clinical and commercial manufacturing agreement. The Lonza H1 print, combined with the July 20 Samsung Biologics $1.8 billion PolyPeptide tender offer and the July 2 Lonza-Nona Biosciences TfR1 BBB deal, sustains the peptide- and biologic-CDMO consolidation thesis that has run through the first half of 2026. Peptide-based GLP-1 manufacturing capacity constraints continue to drive premium CDMO pricing.
Lonza announced Thursday July 2, 2026 that it has acquired rights to Nona Biosciences' transferrin receptor 1 (TfR1) blood-brain barrier (BBB) technology and expanded its strategic collaboration with Nona to develop next-generation BBB delivery platforms. The technology uses single-domain VHH antibodies that bind TfR1, a receptor expressed on the cells lining the blood-brain barrier, to shuttle attached payloads into the brain. The platform can deploy as an immunoglobulin G (IgG) fusion or through conjugation with therapeutic molecules using Lonza's GlycoConnect bioconjugation technology. Preclinical data show that Nona's TfR1-binding VHH improved brain delivery versus a leading industry benchmark in a relevant transgenic model. Financial terms were not disclosed. Under the agreement, Lonza will immediately make the technology available to CNS drug developers while continuing to collaborate with Nona on future BBB platforms. The deal fits Lonza's CDMO-facing strategy of combining GS Gene Expression System capabilities with GlycoConnect chemistry to give customers new tools for CNS therapeutic candidates — including peptide-and-conjugate CNS programs that have historically been limited by BBB penetration.