Lonza Expanding L-Carnitine Capacity

BASEL, Switzerland Lonza is expanding its production capacity for L-carnitine, adding new plant capacity to its existing facilities in Nansha, China, to produce its Carnipure and Carniking ingredients. The capacity will be added in phases, with the first phase expected to come on-line by the end of 2010. According to the company, the expansion is in line with its long-term strategy for nutrition ingredients and supports increasing demand for L-carnitine applications in the food, feed and pharmaceutical industries.

Lukas Utiger, COO, Lonza Life Science Ingredients, commented, Carnipure and Carniking have experienced a surge in demand in the last few years due to strong scientific evidence, favorable regulatory status and appeal to end consumers. New capacities for Carnipure and Carniking will allow us to meet our customers future demands in new and fast-growing markets, thus securing our long-term leadership in this business.

Lonzas Nansha production site has state-of-the-art facilities for nicotinates as well as small and large scale cGMP (good manufacturing practice) production of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). The new carnitine operation will be ISO 9001, 14001 and 22000, and will use a proprietary production process invented by Lonza scientists that is currently patent pending. Lonza noted the production process will have a positive environmental footprint compared to current production processes for carnitine.