Large renovation for Lonza continues

(12/21) One of Walkersville's largest water users, the Lonza Bioscience Group, shared updates on their interior renovations as well as their future plans with the Planning Commission at their October meeting. Lonza is one of the world's largest healthcare manufacturing companies with 35 locations on five continents. The company aids pharmaceutical, biotech, and nutrition companies with releasing their treatments to the worldwide market.

The Walkersville location began in 1974 in a 300,000 square foot facility on 116 acres with 600 employees. They manufacture the materials necessary to perform the endotoxin assay, which is used to help ensure the safety and compliance of parenteral (injectable) drugs and medical devices, according to the Lonza website. The website also notes that the endotoxin assay "is used by pharmaceutical companies to assess endotoxin levels in all injectable pharmaceutical products and medical devices to help ensure their safety and compliance with regulatory standards."

Site Head of the Walkersville location, Philipp Künti, named the project, "Endotoxin 2.0" or "Endo 2.0." It entails the renovation of 18,000 square feet of dedicated manufacturing space to meet the growing demand for endotoxin assay products. Künti said the increase in manufacturing capacity is because "The existing capacity is not enough." These plans were originally approved in December 2023.

Planning Commission Member Nathan Shatto questioned Künti on the potential impact to their utilities usage with the expansion, specifically asking about water usage. Although Lonza "is the largest water consumer in town," said Künti, he assured the Commission that they did not expect an increase in the utilities, water or electricity use.

As for water usage, Lonza purifies the water it draws from the town to remove all salts, bacteria and other compounds, then distills it to be used in 95% of their product formulations, according to Künti. He said a small amount is also used during the cleaning and cooling processes.

One concern expressed by Commission members was the impact on the Town’s water and electricity supply. Künti explained that the company’s approach to reducing these impacts is to reduce the use of industrial water by improving their cleaning process because "that's where they can make the biggest difference," according to Künti.

Planning Commission Member Richard Brady suggested that the company investigate using their excess land for solar energy production to help with any possible increase in costs and mentioned using grey water to aid in cooling. Although interested, Künti said they were not looking at alternative cooling methods at this time.