The pharmaceutical market has evolved rapidly in recent years, with shifts in the geopolitical environment increasing focus on more localized manufacturing strategies – particularly for the commercialization of novel therapies. While the oral solid dose (OSD) market has traditionally grown more modestly than the biologics market 1, the rise of GLP-1s has created a new class of blockbusters with appeal to patients who are hesitant about the use of injectables. Alongside GLP-1s, peptides, live biotherapeutics and even larger biologics are emerging as opportunities for next generation OSD forms. As many large volume biologics approach a patent cliff in the coming years 2, a pivot to oral forms and a focus on diabetes and weight management will facilitate significant growth in the solid dosage forms market.
CHI is well positioned to support customers by addressing these challenging molecules through innovative products, such as the Enprotect® capsules, the Innovaform® development center, and our integrated CDMO for OSD manufacturing in Tampa (US), which offers end-to-end services. CHI’s global and local networks provide a range of products and services to help customers mitigate the challenges of the dynamic market, and offer untapped innovation and customization opportunities at an industry-leading quality and service levels.
Health consciousness trends are driving increasing demand for nutraceuticals. Geopolitical factors are reshaping the nutraceutical market, as many key health ingredients are manufactured outside of the US. At the same time, the nutraceutical consumer landscape is characterized by higher price sensitivity compared with the pharmaceutical market. For instance, the rise of GLP-1s and the growing emphasis on weight, fitness, nutrition, and personalized health are driving downstream trends, as consumers seek increasing levels of wellness and longevity. Health ingredients, such as our joint health offering UC-II® ingredient, are well positioned to capitalize on this trend and capture growth opportunities in the collagen space. Meanwhile, the need for speed and agility in rapid prototyping and sophisticated dosage forms for specialized consumer needs is being addressed through CHI’s Dosage Form Solutions (DFS) contract manufacturing services. Through DFS, CHI can bring concepts to reality within a matter of weeks, supporting customers to stay ahead of rapidly evolving consumer nutrition trends through collaborative innovation.
The CHI business is well positioned to expand its presence across both the pharmaceutical and nutraceutical segments, supported by an innovative product portfolio, market leading customer service, industry-leading manufacturing and automation platforms. Skilled teams of experts and a broad local-for-local manufacturing network operate at the highest quality standards. With an agile and resilient supply chain alongside a digitally enhanced service offering, CHI can provide a truly customer-centric experience and specialist capabilities to meet customer needs. CHI is comprised of four core businesses:
CHI offers a wide range of gelatin and plant-based Capsugel® capsules with a variety of release profiles and encapsulation technologies. These solutions are designed to meet evolving technical and regulatory requirements as well as market demands, including the move toward vegetarian, vegan, organic and clean-label solutions. With the largest global capsule manufacturing capacity in the world, CHI has the capability to produce billions of capsules per year across its global production network. CHI supplies customers in every major geographical region with standard and customizable capsules - all at market leading quality standards. In addition, CHI provides novel and functional capsules for increasingly complex and sensitive therapeutic requirements. Key innovations include the recently launched Organicaps™ capsules, the only USDA organic certified, plant-based immediate release pullulan capsule made in North America, particularly suited for oxygen sensitive payloads. In addition, the pipeline for Enprotect® capsules continues to grow, offering a truly differentiated solution to the challenges of oral peptide and GLP-1 delivery, and a product fully customizable in our Innovaform® development center.
The DFS business builds upon CHI’s strong capsule expertise and provides nutraceutical customers with an expert end-to-end contract manufacturing service. It supports dosage forms ranging from simple liquid formulations using the proprietary liquid sealing technology, to complex multi-dose and timed-release systems. The DFS program has been supported by capacity expansions across CHI’s global network to further improve speed-to-market. Alongside formulation and encapsulation expertise, DFS supports customers by co-creating finished products and providing product branding support.
Net Promoter Score 1
new product launches in 2025
new drugs launched with CHI capsules
The Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a metric used to measure customer loyalty and satisfaction with a company’s products or services. In the B2B life sciences industry, benchmarks typically range between 40 and 45 (Source: Medallia).
In 2025, Lonza’s CDMO site in Tampa (US) was integrated into the CHI network. The Tampa CDMO site is a natural extension of the formulation and development services offered by the Innovaform® development center in Colmar (FR), which launched in 2024. The Innovaform® center offers highly customized solutions for challenging APIs that exhibit poor water solubility, oxygen or water sensitivity, or the need to avoid release in the stomach (e.g. oral peptides). These programs are then managed at the CDMO facility in Tampa, which handles cGMP manufacturing, clinical supply and full-scale commercialization. From OSD forms to inhalation, CHI’s end-to-end GPS offering allows pharmaceutical clients – from start-ups to global leaders – to bring novel, orphan and challenging drugs to life at its customer-centric facility in the United States.
CHI provides multiple science-backed health ingredients for the growing active lifestyle market. Its offering includes products that support healthy human nutrition, targeting global consumer trends including joint health, muscular strength, energy, endurance and weight management. The portfolio includes premium brands such as UC-II® undenatured type II collagen for joint health, Carnipure® L-carnitine for energy, and a range of other branded products targeting immune and digestive health.
In 2025, the CHI business strengthened its leading position in HEC, DFS, and Health Ingredients in a challenging market environment. CHI has focused on optimizing its cost position in the short term through operational excellence in manufacturing – which has delivered efficiency enhancements – and cost saving initiatives across all functions and regions.
In October, CHI launched Organicaps™ capsules, the first USDA organic certified, plant-based, immediate release pullulan capsule manufactured and currently available only for purchase in North America. These capsules feature a high oxygen barrier, non-reactive shell, and excellent polymer stability, making them ideal for preserving organic formulations. Organicaps™ capsules help brands meet growing consumer demand for organic supplements. The capsules are 100% plant-based, Non-GMO Project verified, and offer an excellent disintegration profile for immediate release comparable to traditional gelatin capsules.
Comparison vs. Prior Year
Sales (CHF)
CORE EBITDA (CHF)
CORE EBITDA Margin
Sales growth, expressed as a percentage (%), are at constant exchange rate (CER).
As part of CHI’s continued focus on corporate responsibility, a new Center of Applied Sustainability was established to accelerate sustainability efforts. The Center comprises a dedicated team of experts in operations, energy management, emissions and life cycle impact assessment to help our customers reach their climate ambitions. The team works alongside partners, suppliers and customers to set collective environmental goals, with the aim of decreasing the environmental footprint of CHI’s products and operations. The Center also provides end-to-end support for customers seeking to reduce their emissions, from upstream supply chain emissions to downstream low environmental impact products. As a core service, the Center conducts carbon footprint assessments to support customers in assessing their own emissions and identifying further reduction opportunities. The Center also aims to achieve the lowest possible environmental impacts for the CHI product portfolio.
Head of Capsules & Health Ingredients
2025 has been a year of positive change and momentum for CHI. We have refocused our efforts on our core business and successfully launched new Products such as our organic Organicaps™ capsule to address growing demand for organic and vegan supplements. Our drive for commercial excellence and productivity initiatives has delivered positive sales growth and expanded margins. As we prepare for our exit from Lonza, we look forward to a new chapter with confidence in our ability to continue to meet our customers’ needs.
In 2025, CHI also launched the next phase of the ACHIEV® digital platform enabling customers to browse the CHI product catalogue, order products and review order status while providing access to relevant quality and regulatory documentation. The platform is available around the clock, providing customers with instant access to compliance support, product and order information. 2025 marked a significant milestone with the launch of the ACHIEV® Product Configurator, a groundbreaking tool that walks customers through the entire process of selecting and building a custom capsule for both the pharmaceutical and nutraceutical markets.
Also in 2025, CHI launched its next generation dry powder inhalation (DPI) capsule with Zephyr Inhance™ capsules, the latest innovation offering outstanding mechanical properties over a wide range of humidity conditions. This capsule innovation focuses on minimizing powder retention and performs well under a broad range of filling conditions. These capsules meet stringent microbiological standards for use in inhalation without the use of preservatives, ethylene oxide or irradiation treatments.
The therapeutic peptides landscape, including GLP-1-based products, has been steadily evolving to meet growing global demand and accommodate patient preferences and needs. In this context, oral delivery is gaining increased attention from drug developers, manufacturers and regulators. Despite growing interest, the oral delivery of therapeutic peptides faces several challenges, including acidic and enzymatic degradation in the upper gastrointestinal tract and poor intestinal permeability.
To address these challenges, we have developed an enteric delivery platform based on the award-winning Enprotect® capsules, utilizing tailored capsule development solutions from the Innovaform® Accelerator. The solution for oral delivery of peptides increases bioavailability through a unique formulation of the capsule cargo, which includes solid permeation enhancers, paired with customized enteric capsules that carry the cargo to the right place at the right time, while protecting the active ingredient from acid and enzymatic degradation. These formulations can be transferred efficiently to our cGMP-compliant CDMO facility in Tampa (US) for scalable production.
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