Lonza agreed to acquire five U.S. CDMO manufacturing sites from Merck KGaA, expanding its footprint from four to nine sites and adding roughly 1,100 employees for a combined U.S. workforce of more than 6,000. The reported enterprise valuation sits in the low- to mid-triple-digit millions Swiss francs. Lonza said the acquired network will strengthen end-to-end development and manufacturing capabilities, including support for antibody-drug conjugates, bioconjugates, viral vectors for cell and gene therapies, and advanced drug-delivery technologies. The move follows other Lonza capacity investments, including a Vacaville biologics site acquisition and plans for commercial spray-drying capacity in Bend, Oregon. For the sector, the deal underscores continued consolidation and capacity build-out in the CDMO market as sponsors seek scalable manufacturing pathways for complex modalities like ADCs and viral vectors.