COMPANY PROFILE / NANOTECHNOLOGY
Evonik
A German chemicals company that links pharmaceutical lipids and LNP products, from lipid synthesis to contract manufacturing
Evonik is a German specialty chemicals company headquartered in Essen. This article covers only its nanomedicine activities, namely pharmaceutical lipids and lipid nanoparticles (LNPs), not the group as a whole. The company runs these activities in its Health Care business line, and says it covers the synthesis of pharmaceutical lipids such as ionizable lipids, PEG lipids and cholesterol, development and GMP manufacturing of LNP formulations, and aseptic filling, across sites in Germany, Canada and the United States. Two large investments are under way: a lipid plant in Lafayette, Indiana (total investment of US$220 million, of which the US government is to cover up to US$150 million) and a GMP drug product plant in Vancouver, Canada (over CAD 150 million, drug product production planned to begin at the end of 2029). However, sales of the lipid and LNP business alone are not disclosed, and the company's August 2026 materials still describe the Lafayette plant as "being built". Drawing on official press releases, financial materials and product pages, this article sets out what could be confirmed and what could not, and explains from a materials engineer's view how lipid purity, mixing and scale-up matter.
- At a glance: Evonik and its place in nanotechnology
- Logo and naming
- Where the company sits in nanotechnology
- Company scale
- Resources committed to nanotechnology
- Track record
- Plans
- What the company is aiming for in nanotechnology
- Partnership map for nanotechnology
- Technologies, products and services
- Risks
- Glossary
- References
- Claim-to-source audit
1. At a glance: Evonik and its place in nanotechnology
Frankfurt (Prime Standard)Member of the MDAX; ticker EVK (the company's share information page)
Nanomaterial producers (secondary)Primary: contract development and manufacturing of LNP products. Secondary: synthesis and supply of lipids as materials. Our classification
Lipid nanoparticles (LNPs)Synthesis of ionizable lipids, PEG lipids, phospholipids and cholesterol, and GMP manufacturing of LNP products
Total investment US$220 millionGroundbreaking in March 2023, with production then planned for 2025. Still described as "being built" in August 2026
Production planned for end of 2029Announced on 27 August 2026. The federal government supports up to CAD 68 million. At the planning stage
What sets Evonik's nanomedicine business apart is that the same company holds both the lipids as materials and the process that turns them into particles and finished products. The company describes one network: lipid synthesis (Hanau and Dossenheim in Germany, and Lafayette in the US, now being built), LNP formulation development (Vancouver in Canada and Cambridge in the US), and commercial-scale manufacturing and aseptic filling (Birmingham, US) Sourced. On the other hand, the sales, profit, customer names and production volumes (kg or tonnes) of this business appear in none of the materials we checked. Large investments have been announced, but the Lafayette plant, originally planned to start in 2025, is still described as "being built" as of August 2026, and we could not find an announcement that it has started operating Not yet confirmed.
2. Logo and naming
The logo is the one published in the header of the company's official website (evonik.com), the word "EVONIK" with "Leading Beyond Chemistry", taken as it is. It has not been recreated with generated images.
Naming: the company is Evonik Industries AG. The business covered here belongs to the company's Health Care business line. The company reorganized in 2025; in its financial materials "Care" sits under the Custom Solutions segment, whose description includes ingredients for the pharmaceutical industry, so Health Care appears to belong to that segment Inference. The Vancouver site is Evonik Vancouver Laboratories (formerly Transferra Nanosciences and Northern Lipids), and the research site in Cambridge, Massachusetts is an "Innovation Satellite" of Creavis, the company's innovation unit. This series also has an Evonik profile in its polymers and resins field; this article is a new one written only about lipids and LNPs.
Official site: https://www.evonik.com/3. Where the company sits in nanotechnology
Evonik's primary type is Nanomedicine (the party that takes on development and manufacture of LNPs under contract) and its secondary type is Nanomaterial producers (the party that synthesizes and supplies the lipids that are the raw materials of LNPs). The central materials are the four components of an LNP, ionizable lipids, PEG lipids, phospholipids and cholesterol, and the processes are lipid synthesis and purification and LNP mixing (particle formation) and filling. For how an LNP works, see our explainer on lipid nanoparticles. The table below shows what could be confirmed from the company's materials.
| Material / process | Evonik's position | Primary sources confirmed | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ionizable (cationic) lipids and phospholipids | The company says its GMP facility in Hanau (opened March 2023) can make custom and proprietary lipids, including PEGylated lipids, phospholipids and ionizable cationic lipids, in clinical and small-scale commercial quantities. Individual product names and specifications could not be confirmed | Release on the Hanau facility | Sourced (company description) |
| PEG lipids (rPEG lipids) | A license agreement (February 2024) for randomized polyethylene glycols (rPEGs), developed at the University of Mainz, Germany. The company announced that "technical grade rPEG lipids will be available in the second half of 2024". The current sales status could not be confirmed | Release with the University of Mainz | Sourced / not confirmed (current status) |
| Cholesterol (PhytoChol) | Injectable-grade cholesterol made by a semi-synthetic route from plant sterols. The company says it complies with the USP-NF, Ph. Eur., JP and ChP pharmacopoeial monographs. Production capacity was increased in Hanau | Product page; release on the Hanau facility | Sourced (company description) |
| LNP formulation development, GMP manufacturing and aseptic filling | Formulation development and clinical-trial manufacturing in Vancouver; late-stage clinical and commercial manufacturing and filling in Birmingham, Alabama, US; early-stage research and development in Cambridge, US | Release on Vancouver; ELEMENTS magazine | Sourced (company description) |
| Names of individual customers and approved products | The company's magazine mentions a partnership with Acuitas Therapeutics (production of two lipids scaled up during the pandemic). No other customer or product names could be confirmed | ELEMENTS magazine | Sourced / not confirmed |
4. Company scale
Evonik is a listed company, and group financials are disclosed in its official financial KPI file. The group is shown briefly, followed by where the Health Care business line, which handles lipids and LNPs, sits Sourced.
| Item (consolidated, 2025) | Detail |
|---|---|
| Sales (external) | €14,069 million (prior year €15,157 million, down 7%) |
| Adjusted EBITDA | €1,874 million (prior year €2,065 million). Adjusted EBIT €861 million |
| R&D expenses | €418 million (prior year €459 million). A group figure; the amount for lipids and LNPs alone is not disclosed |
| Capital expenditure (cash outflow) | €748 million (prior year €840 million). A group figure |
| Employees | 31,053 at the end of 2025 (continuing operations) |
| Headquarters and listing | Essen, Germany. Frankfurt Stock Exchange, Prime Standard; MDAX. Ticker EVK |
| Custom Solutions segment (Health Care appears to belong to it) | 2025 |
|---|---|
| Sales | €5,492 million (prior year €5,737 million, down 4%). Additives €3,683 million; Care €1,809 million |
| Adjusted EBITDA | €909 million (margin 16.6%) |
| Employees | 9,529 at the end of 2025 |
| Share of group sales | About 39% (Our calculation 5,492 ÷ 14,069) |
| Health Care business line / lipid and LNP sales | Not disclosed (even within Care, no figure for Health Care alone could be confirmed) |
Evonik's press releases contain forecasts of the size of the LNP market (the August 2026 release says "US$2.7 billion by 2034"; the January 2025 release says "over US$600 million, up to US$1 billion"). These are market forecasts, and because this article does not use market estimates from research firms and similar sources, we do not use them. Also, "Health Care" is a business line whose reporting home has changed with reorganizations (the 2023 releases place it in the "Nutrition & Care" division; materials from the May 2025 reorganization onward appear to place it under the Custom Solutions segment), so simple comparison with earlier materials is not possible Not yet confirmed.
5. Resources committed to nanotechnology
What can be confirmed from official releases about people and investment in the lipid and LNP business is limited. The table sets out, for four points (people, money, outside deals, universities), what could and could not be confirmed.
| Item | What could be confirmed | Status |
|---|---|---|
| People (R&D sites and headcount) | Sites: lipid supply from Dossenheim and Hanau in Germany; LNP formulation development and clinical manufacturing in Vancouver; late-stage clinical and commercial work in Birmingham; early-stage R&D in Cambridge, US (opened June 2024, on the MIT campus). For the Lafayette lipid plant the company announced more than 80 jobs and 300 additional contractor positions over the life of the project (2023). Headcount of the lipid and LNP business is not disclosed | Sourced / not disclosed (headcount) |
| Money (R&D and capital expenditure) | Lafayette: total investment US$220 million (the US government shares up to US$150 million of the cost). Vancouver: total investment over CAD 150 million (€93 million), of which the Canadian federal government supports up to CAD 68 million (about €42 million). Evonik's own share is therefore at least US$70 million for Lafayette and over CAD 82 million for Vancouver (Our calculation 220 − 150 and 150 − 68; these are lower bounds because the government figures are upper limits). Actual R&D spending and capital expenditure for lipids and LNPs alone are not disclosed | Sourced / not disclosed (actual amounts) |
| Outside investment, acquisitions, joint ventures, divestments | Acquisition of Transferra Nanosciences (formerly Northern Lipids, Vancouver) in 2016 (company magazine). Acquisition of Wilshire Technologies, a US maker of plant-based pharmaceutical excipients, in early 2020 (company page). License agreement with the University of Mainz on rPEG in 2024. Evonik Creavis's venture investing covers areas such as drug delivery, but no individual investment in an LNP start-up could be confirmed. No joint venture could be confirmed either | Sourced / not confirmed (investments, JVs) |
| Universities, research institutes, public funding | The US government (BARDA, with acquisition assistance coordinated by relevant Department of Defense offices) for up to US$150 million at Lafayette. The Canadian federal government for up to CAD 68 million at Vancouver. A project supported by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs in which universities and companies develop new specialty lipids (Evonik has taken part since January 2023). Stanford University (since 2021, scaling up synthesis and formulation of a tissue-specific nucleic acid delivery platform) and the University of Mainz (rPEG). A long-standing member of MIT's Industrial Liaison Program. The name and amount of the German ministry-backed project could not be confirmed | Sourced / not confirmed (name, amount) |
Status of main products and facilities
Annual production capacity of lipids (kg or tonnes per year) does not appear in the official materials we checked. Facilities are therefore shown by stage, not by scale.
| Facility | Location | Scale and content | Stage | Date and source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GMP lipid facility (Lipid Launch Facility) | Hanau, Germany | Lipids for clinical and small-scale commercial use (the company says it handles orders of a few kilograms). Purification includes chromatography | Operating (inaugurated 8 March 2023). The August 2026 release also lists lipid supply from Hanau | Release of 8 March 2023; release of 27 August 2026 |
| Two specialty lipid production facilities | Hanau and Dossenheim, Germany | The company says they were built during the pandemic. Scale not stated | Operating | Company page "Lipids" |
| Lipid Innovation Center (large-scale lipid production) | Lafayette, Indiana, US (within Tippecanoe Laboratories) | Total investment US$220 million. Described as handling everything from raw material input to packaging of the lipid. Scale (tonnes per year) not stated | Under construction. At groundbreaking in March 2023: "production in 2025". August 2026 materials: "being built". No start-of-operation announcement could be confirmed | Release of 29 March 2023; release of 27 August 2026 |
| LNP drug product and aseptic filling | Birmingham, Alabama, US | Late-stage clinical and commercial manufacturing and filling. Scale not stated | Operating | Company page "Lipids"; ELEMENTS magazine |
| New GMP drug product plant | Vancouver, Canada | More than three times the capacity of the current facility (for advanced pharmaceutical products), with stronger quality control and microbiological testing | Planned (investment announced 27 August 2026; drug product production planned for the end of 2029) | Release of 27 August 2026 |
On 8 July 2026 Evonik announced US$100 million over five years to upgrade equipment at Tippecanoe Labs in Lafayette, its contract manufacturing site for active pharmaceutical ingredients. This is for small-molecule drug substance (API) equipment, not an investment in the lipid plant (it is separate from the US$220 million above) Sourced.
6. Track record
| When | Event | Significance |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Acquired Transferra Nanosciences (formerly Northern Lipids) of Vancouver, Canada. Since then it has developed and formulated LNPs in Burnaby, near Vancouver | Secured a technical base for LNP formulation (company description) |
| Early 2020 | Acquired Wilshire Technologies of the US, a maker of plant-based pharmaceutical excipients | Broadened the excipient portfolio |
| During the pandemic (from 2020) | The company says it quickly built two specialty lipid production facilities, in Hanau and Dossenheim. Its magazine says it partnered with Acuitas Therapeutics of Vancouver and scaled up production of two lipids for a vaccine | Rapid expansion of lipid supply (company description; contract details not stated) |
| 2021 | Began joint work with Stanford University to scale up the synthesis and formulation of a tissue-specific nucleic acid delivery platform | Bringing university technology toward use |
| 2022 | Announced a "triple-digit million dollar" joint investment with the US government to build a lipid plant in the US (the 2023 release says it was announced "last year") | The idea of US-based lipid production |
| January 2023 | Joined a project, supported by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs, in which universities and companies develop new specialty lipids for mRNA therapeutics | Publicly funded joint development of lipids |
| 8 March 2023 | Inaugurated a GMP lipid facility in Hanau for clinical and small-scale commercial quantities. The same release says capacity for plant-derived cholesterol PhytoChol was also increased in Hanau (timing not stated) | Capability for small-volume, many-variety GMP lipids |
| 29 March 2023 | Broke ground on the Lipid Innovation Center (US$220 million) in Lafayette. Announced "production to start in 2025" | Start of work on large-scale lipid production |
| 20 February 2024 | License agreement with the University of Mainz for rPEG (randomized PEG). "Technical grade available in the second half of 2024" | A new option for PEG lipids |
| June 2024 | Opened a Creavis Innovation Satellite in Cambridge, Massachusetts, US, starting with R&D on nucleic acid medicines | A base for early-stage research |
| 8 January 2025 | Partnership with ST Pharm of South Korea to offer ST Pharm's nucleic acids together with Evonik's lipid and LNP development services | Nucleic acids and LNPs offered together |
| 9 September 2025 | Strategic partnership with Ethris of Germany to offer formulation development services based on Ethris's SNaP LNP platform | Responding to new routes of administration such as inhalation |
| 8 July 2026 | Announced US$100 million over five years for equipment upgrades for small-molecule drug substances at Lafayette (Tippecanoe Labs) (separate from lipids) | Strengthening contract manufacturing of drug substances |
| 27 August 2026 | A new GMP drug product plant in Vancouver (over CAD 150 million). The Canadian federal government supports up to CAD 68 million | Plan for a large increase in LNP drug product manufacturing capacity |
7. Plans
planned for end of 2029More than three times the capacity of the current facility. A company plan, not confirmed
could be confirmedMarch 2023: "production in 2025". The August 2026 materials only say "being built"
for the second half of 2024A February 2024 plan. The later sales status could not be confirmed
20% to over 50% by 2030A target of the then "Nutrition & Care" division. Whether it still applies after the reorganization could not be confirmed
The August 2026 release describes the purpose of the Vancouver plant as taking vaccines, therapeutics and other advanced medicines from development through to commercial scale, and also mentions stronger quality control and microbiological testing Not yet confirmed. By contrast, lipid sales targets, the production capacity of the Lafayette plant (tonnes per year), and plans for new customers or products do not appear in the official materials we checked.
None of the following appears in the primary sources Not yet confirmed.
Sales and operating profit of the lipid and LNP business / start date and production capacity of the Lafayette plant / customer names and contract volumes or amounts (including the contract form of the Acuitas relationship) / production capacity of Hanau and Dossenheim (kg or tonnes) / names and purity specifications of individual ionizable lipid products / name and amount of the German ministry-backed project / current sales status of rPEG lipids / expected utilization of the new Vancouver plant.
8. What the company is aiming for in nanotechnology
This section includes points the company has not stated directly. They are written as inferences that can be read from the primary sources, with the basis given.
| What can be read | Primary-source basis | Status |
|---|---|---|
| The differentiator is "system solutions": lipid synthesis through LNP formulation and filling from one company | March 2023 release (a division target to raise the share of system solutions); January 2025 release (the ST Pharm partnership "reduces complexity and increases speed to market"); August 2026 release (the sites are described as one network) | Sourced (company policy) |
| One purpose of making lipids in the US is to secure domestic supply for a future pandemic | March 2023 release: the company says the plant "secures US-made key pharmaceutical excipients" for pandemic preparedness. The US government shares most of the cost | Sourced (company description) |
| The company is trying to bring in new materials (rPEG, Ethris's lipidoid particles) through partnerships with universities and start-ups and combine them with its own manufacturing and formulation strength | Releases on the University of Mainz (2024), Stanford University (2021) and Ethris (2025) | Inference |
| It sees formulations for routes other than injection, such as inhalation to the lung, as one growth area | The Ethris partnership cites nebulized delivery to the lungs, and the company magazine says the Cambridge lab tests formulations with a nebulizer for lung diseases such as asthma | Inference |
| The center of gravity of its facilities is in North America | The July 2026 release says geopolitical uncertainty has underscored the importance of regional production of critical drug substances and delivery technologies. The large lipid and LNP projects (Lafayette, Vancouver, Birmingham, Cambridge) are concentrated in North America | Inference |
We read the large lipid facilities as advancing on public preparedness and public funding rather than on confirmed private demand, and the basis is how the investment is split. At Lafayette the US government (BARDA) is to share up to US$150 million of US$220 million (about 68%, Our calculation 150 ÷ 220), and in Vancouver the Canadian federal government supports up to CAD 68 million of more than CAD 150 million (about 45% or less, Our calculation 68 ÷ 150 or more). As purposes, the Lafayette release cites "pandemic preparedness" and the Vancouver release cites development and commercialization of "next-generation vaccines and medicines". Meanwhile, no document mentions long-term supply contracts with customers or an outlook for plant utilization. Disclosures by other companies also include cases where demand for this kind of large-scale facility came in later than planned (see our Croda profile). Whether the same applies to Evonik cannot be confirmed from official materials. This is our interpretation from combining disclosed facts, and we cannot rule out that the company takes a different view Not yet confirmed.
9. Partnership map for nanotechnology
A feature of Evonik's relationships is that the names of its lipid customers are rarely disclosed. The only customer whose name could be confirmed in official materials was Acuitas Therapeutics, in the magazine article. By contrast, partnerships with universities, public bodies, equipment makers and nucleic acid makers can be confirmed concretely in official releases. The company's materials give no reason for withholding customer names, and this article does not speculate Not yet confirmed.
10. Technologies, products and services
What follows draws on the company's official product pages, official releases and technical magazine. Figures such as lipid purity (%), endotoxin limits, particle size and encapsulation efficiency are almost absent from the public pages we checked, so no performance values are given Not yet confirmed.
| Product / service | Description on the company's pages (company description) |
|---|---|
| Custom and proprietary pharmaceutical lipids | The Hanau facility is said to handle all types of custom and proprietary lipids, including PEGylated lipids, phospholipids and ionizable cationic lipids. It has particle engineering and purification capability including chromatography. The Lafayette plant is planned to handle everything from raw material input and reaction to final packaging |
| PhytoChol Inject (cholesterol) | High-purity, injectable-grade cholesterol made by a semi-synthetic route from plant sterols. Described as having "low endotoxin levels". It complies with the USP-NF, Ph. Eur., JP and ChP pharmacopoeial monographs. Positioned for demand to move away from animal-derived materials (no numerical specification given). A grade for cell culture (PhytoChol BioPharma) also exists but is outside this article |
| rPEG lipids | Lipids using randomized PEG (rPEG), developed at the University of Mainz. Described as having "similar properties to PEGs but a different structure that is intended to offer an improved immunogenicity profile" (no supporting data for the improvement could be confirmed). Technical grade was planned for the second half of 2024 |
| LNP formulation development (screening through scale-up) | Uses impingement jet mixing (IJM) equipment. A joint poster says KNAUER's NanoScaler Pro can make 0.5 to 50 mL in high-throughput screening and can be switched to continuous operation for mid-scale batches. Five mixer sizes allow stepwise scale-up. Particle size and polydispersity index (PdI) were used to confirm reproducibility and the absence of carry-over from the previous sample (an evaluation of the equipment, not a performance value of a product) |
| Joint offering with Ethris (SNaP LNP) | Ethris's lipidoid-based platform, described as improving thermostability (storage at higher temperatures) and local retention. Nebulized delivery to the lungs is also envisaged (no performance values or conditions given) |
| GMP manufacturing and aseptic filling (CDMO) | Clinical-trial manufacturing in Vancouver; late-stage clinical and commercial manufacturing and filling in Birmingham. The August 2026 release says expertise in manufacturing, quality control, sterile manufacturing and regulatory affairs is combined |
| Combined offering with nucleic acids | Custom nucleic acids from ST Pharm (siRNA, mRNA and others) offered together with Evonik's lipid and LNP development services |
(1) The lipids split into four roles, each with its own materials problem. The company's page describes an LNP as a shell of four types of lipid: ionizable lipid, PEG lipid, helper lipid (phospholipid) and cholesterol. The ionizable lipid binds mRNA through its positive charge; the PEG lipid stabilizes the particle during production and purification and can lengthen circulation time in the body; cholesterol modulates the particle structure and supports stability during production, storage and after administration; and the helper lipid gives bulk that adds stability. For how each lipid is designed (the pKa of the ionizable lipid, how fast PEG lipids come off, and so on), see our explainer on lipid nanoparticles. The official materials show that Evonik's range covers PEG lipids (rPEG), cholesterol (PhytoChol) and custom lipids in general.
(2) The origin of the raw material sets how heavy the regulatory burden is. Cholesterol has traditionally been animal-derived, but the company says regulators often require proof that animal material is safeguarded against disease transmission, and so it offers a product made semi-synthetically from plant sterols. Low endotoxin and conformity with the pharmacopoeias of the US, Europe, Japan and China are requirements for an injectable material. However, endotoxin limits and purity (%) are not on the public pages, so the quality level of the material cannot be confirmed quantitatively.
(3) For small GMP lipid batches, purification decides quality. The Hanau facility is described as having particle engineering and purification including chromatography. It can be read that a step which separates by-products of the reaction (impurities with structures close to the target lipid) on a column governs the quality of GMP lipids in batches of a few kilograms, but this is a general chemistry reading and not a process detail the company has published Inference. At the much larger Lafayette plant, which is designed to handle everything from raw material input to packaging in one facility, changeovers between products and ease of scale-up from small to large quantities are likely to be the issues Inference.
(4) Particle formation is decided by how the liquids are mixed. The impingement jet mixing the company uses collides lipids and nucleic acid at high speed to form particles (the company's magazine also describes the "high-velocity impingement jet mixers" in the Vancouver laboratory; the compositions of the liquids are a general description from our explainer, and the company's conditions are not disclosed). The joint poster shows that under poor mixing conditions (low flow rates) particles come out larger, and that returning straight afterwards to standard conditions restores the target size, with no carry-over from the previous condition. Particle size and polydispersity depend on the mixing conditions as well as on the formulation, and using the same mixing principle in the screening instrument and in the production instrument is described as the key to scale-up (the same idea as "from T-junction mixing to microfluidics" in our lipid nanoparticle explainer).
(5) The next materials issues are PEG and storage temperature. What the company is adding is rPEG lipids, a replacement for PEG (the company says it aims to improve the immunogenicity profile; supporting data not confirmed), and particles that can be stored at higher temperatures (Ethris). Both point toward issues commonly raised about today's LNPs, but we do not evaluate the size of any effect or its safety here. Individual advice on the effectiveness or safety of medicines or vaccines is outside the scope of this article.
11. Risks
| Risk | Detail | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Delay of large facilities | The Lafayette lipid plant was planned in March 2023 for "production in 2025" but is still described as "being built" in August 2026. No announcement of the start of operation or the reason for any delay could be confirmed | Sourced / not confirmed |
| Dependence on public funding and its terms | Governments are to share up to about 68% at Lafayette and about 45% or less at Vancouver (Our calculation). The terms of the cost-sharing agreements (operating obligations, duration, repayment clauses and so on) could not be confirmed. The effect of changes in government policy or budgets cannot be assessed | Sourced / not confirmed |
| Opacity of the business | Sales, profit, customers and production volumes of the lipid and LNP business are not disclosed. The payback outlook for the investments cannot be checked from outside | Sourced (limit of disclosure) |
| Uncertain demand | The scale and timing of customer projects needed for large-scale lipid production are not stated. The post-pandemic demand outlook cannot be confirmed from the company's materials | Inference |
| Proving new materials | For rPEG lipids there is only the statement that they aim at "an improved immunogenicity profile"; supporting data and the sales status cannot be confirmed. The results of the Ethris partnership are at the planning stage | Not yet confirmed |
| Regulation and quality | Injectable excipients must comply with pharmacopoeias and GMP (the company states compliance). We did not check regulators' inspection results or any non-compliance. The patent situation around LNPs is not described in Evonik's materials and could not be confirmed | Not confirmed |
| Competition and in-house production by customers | Other companies, or customers themselves, may make lipids and LNP products in-house. Competitors are not described in the company's materials, and this article does not rank them | Inference |
| Changes in group direction | The company announced an interim CEO effective 1 September 2026. The effect of any change in group direction on the lipid and LNP business cannot be confirmed from official materials. The July 2026 US$100 million investment for drug substances is a separate matter | Sourced / not confirmed |
12. Glossary
- Lipid nanoparticle (LNP)
- A nano-sized particle in which four types of lipid enclose a nucleic acid: ionizable lipid, PEG lipid, phospholipid and cholesterol.
- Ionizable lipid
- A lipid that is positively charged in acid and neutral near neutral pH. It sits at the core of an LNP and binds the nucleic acid.
- PEG lipid
- A lipid bound to polyethylene glycol (PEG). It affects the stability of the particle and circulation time in the body.
- rPEG
- Randomized polyethylene glycol. A PEG-like polymer with a different structure, developed at the University of Mainz.
- Helper lipid (phospholipid)
- A lipid that supports the structure of the particle. DSPC is commonly used in LNPs.
- CDMO
- A contract development and manufacturing organization for medicines.
- GMP
- Good Manufacturing Practice, the standard for manufacturing and quality control of medicines.
- Pharmaceutical excipient
- A substance added to a formulation besides the active ingredient. Lipids are excipients of LNP products.
- Impingement jet mixing (IJM)
- A method that collides jets of two liquids to mix them instantly. Used to form LNPs.
- Polydispersity index (PdI)
- An index of the spread of particle sizes. Smaller values mean more uniform sizes.
- Endotoxin
- A fever-causing substance from the cell walls of bacteria. Injectable materials must keep it low.
- BARDA
- The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority of the US Department of Health and Human Services, which supports development of medical countermeasures.
13. References
- Evonik Evonik expands lipid-based drug delivery capabilities with new GMP manufacturing facility in Vancouver, Canada (press release, 27 August 2026). Investment, government support, the end-2029 plan, the lipid and LNP site network, and the status of Lafayette. https://www.evonik.com/en/news/press-releases/2026/08/evonik-expands-lipid-based-drug-delivery-capabilities-with-new-gmp-manufacturing-facility-in-vancouver-canada.html
- Evonik Evonik breaks ground on $220 million Lipid Innovation Center in Lafayette, Indiana (29 March 2023). Total investment, BARDA cost share, jobs, and the plan at the time. https://www.evonik.com/en/news/press-releases/2023/03/evonik-breaks-ground-on--220-million-lipid-innovation-center-in-.html
- Evonik Evonik underpins leading position in drug delivery for RNA therapeutics with start of construction of new U.S. facility for pharmaceutical lipids (29 March 2023). Start of construction, link to the Hanau facility, Department of Defense coordination. https://www.evonik.com/en/news/press-releases/2023/03/evonik-underpins-leading-position-in-drug-delivery-for-rna-thera.html
- Evonik Evonik opens new facility for pharmaceutical lipids at site in Hanau, Germany (8 March 2023). Opening of the GMP lipid facility, types of lipids, PhytoChol capacity, division target. https://www.evonik.com/en/news/press-releases/2023/03/evonik-opens-new-facility-for-pharmaceutical-lipids-at-site-in-h.html
- Evonik Evonik Enters Greater Boston’s Life Sciences Ecosystem (27 June 2024). The Innovation Satellite in Cambridge. https://www.evonik.com/en/news/press-releases/2024/06/evonik-enters-greater-boston-s-life-sciences-ecosystem.html
- Evonik Evonik partners with the University of Mainz to commercialize a new class of PEG lipids for nucleic acid delivery (20 February 2024). The rPEG license and the collaboration with Stanford University. https://www.evonik.com/en/news/press-releases/2024/02/evonik-partners-with-the-university-of-mainz-to-commercialize-a-.html
- Evonik Evonik partners with ST Pharm to increase its offerings for RNA and nucleic acid delivery (8 January 2025). https://www.evonik.com/en/news/press-releases/2025/01/evonik-partners-with-st-pharm-to-increase-its-offerings-for-rna-.html
- Evonik Evonik and Ethris enter strategic partnership to expand offerings for nucleic acid delivery (9 September 2025). https://www.evonik.com/en/news/press-releases/2025/09/evonik-and-ethris-enter-strategic-partnership-to-expand-offerings-for-nucleic-acid-delivery.html
- Evonik Evonik invests US$100 million to upgrade drug substance manufacturing site in Lafayette, Indiana (8 July 2026). Equipment upgrade for small-molecule drug substances (separate from lipids) and the company’s view on regional production. https://www.evonik.com/en/news/press-releases/2026/07/evonik-invests-100-million-usd-to-upgrade-drug-substance-manufacturing-site-in-lafayette-indiana.html
- Evonik Lipids (official site, "We go beyond"). Roles of the four LNP lipids, sites (Burnaby, Birmingham, Hanau, Dossenheim, Lafayette), the Wilshire acquisition, joint projects. https://www.evonik.com/en/company/we-go-beyond/lipids.html
- Evonik An Ecosystem for Lipid Nanoparticles (technical magazine ELEMENTS, issue 1/2026). The Transferra Nanosciences acquisition, the partnership with Acuitas, impingement jet mixers, the Cambridge laboratory. https://elements.evonik.com/en/articles/1_2026/lnp_lipids.html
- Evonik PhytoChol® Inject (official product page). Semi-synthetic route and pharmacopoeial compliance. https://www.evonik.com/en/products/hc/pr_52050742.html
- Evonik PhytoChol® Inject: Plant-derived cholesterol for mRNA and gene delivery (official application page). The role of cholesterol and regulatory reasons for avoiding animal-derived materials. https://www.evonik.com/en/applications/application_1993583/phytochol-inject-plant-derived-cholesterol-for-parenteral-mrna-and-gene-delivery.html
- Evonik IJM NanoScaler Pro: From high throughput screening to commercial manufacturing of lipid nanoparticles for the delivery of RNA vaccines and therapeutics (joint poster by Evonik and KNAUER). https://www.evonik.com/content/dam/evonik/documents/evonik-poster-ijm-nanoscaler-pro-from-high-throughput-screening-to-commercial-manufacturing-of-lipid-nanoparticles.pdf
- Evonik Evonik Financials & ESG KPIs (as of Q4 / FY 2025, published 4 March 2026). Group and segment sales, EBITDA, employees, R&D expenses and capital expenditure. https://www.evonik.com/content/dam/evonik/documents/260304_Evonik%20-%20Financials%20Q4%202025.pdf
- Evonik Evonik Financials: Restatement New Segment Structure (document dated 12 May 2025). Sales categories under the new segment structure (Health & Care). https://www.evonik.com/content/dam/evonik/documents/250512_Evonik%20-%20Financials%20-%20Restatement%20New%20Segment%20Structure.pdf.coredownload.pdf
- Evonik Share (investor relations share information page). Exchange, indices and ticker. https://www.evonik.com/en/investor-relations/Share.html
- Evonik Investor Relations (official site). The announcement of an interim CEO effective 1 September 2026. https://www.evonik.com/en/investor-relations.html
- Evonik Official site (source of the logo image). https://www.evonik.com/
14. Claim-to-source audit
| Claim in the text | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Group figures: sales €14,069 million (prior year €15,157 million), adjusted EBITDA €1,874 million, adjusted EBIT €861 million, R&D expenses €418 million, capital expenditure €748 million, 31,053 employees | Sourced | Reference 15 https://www.evonik.com/content/dam/evonik/documents/260304_Evonik%20-%20Financials%20Q4%202025.pdf |
| Custom Solutions segment: sales €5,492 million (Additives €3,683 million, Care €1,809 million), adjusted EBITDA €909 million, 9,529 employees. The earlier sales category "Health & Care" | Sourced | Reference 15 and 16 https://www.evonik.com/content/dam/evonik/documents/260304_Evonik%20-%20Financials%20Q4%202025.pdf https://www.evonik.com/content/dam/evonik/documents/250512_Evonik%20-%20Financials%20-%20Restatement%20New%20Segment%20Structure.pdf.coredownload.pdf |
| Headquarters (Essen), Frankfurt Stock Exchange Prime Standard, MDAX, ticker EVK | Sourced | Reference 17 https://www.evonik.com/en/investor-relations/Share.html |
| That the description of Custom Solutions includes ingredients for the pharmaceutical industry, and that Health Care appears to belong to this segment | Inference | Reference 1 and 16 https://www.evonik.com/en/news/press-releases/2026/08/evonik-expands-lipid-based-drug-delivery-capabilities-with-new-gmp-manufacturing-facility-in-vancouver-canada.html https://www.evonik.com/content/dam/evonik/documents/250512_Evonik%20-%20Financials%20-%20Restatement%20New%20Segment%20Structure.pdf.coredownload.pdf |
| Lafayette: total investment US$220 million, BARDA cost share of up to US$150 million, groundbreaking on 29 March 2023, plan at the time for production in 2025, more than 80 jobs and 300 contractor positions, about 680 employees at Tippecanoe | Sourced (2023 plan) | Reference 2 and 3 https://www.evonik.com/en/news/press-releases/2023/03/evonik-breaks-ground-on--220-million-lipid-innovation-center-in-.html https://www.evonik.com/en/news/press-releases/2023/03/evonik-underpins-leading-position-in-drug-delivery-for-rna-thera.html |
| That the August 2026 materials still describe the Lafayette lipid plant as "being built" | Sourced (company description) | Reference 1 https://www.evonik.com/en/news/press-releases/2026/08/evonik-expands-lipid-based-drug-delivery-capabilities-with-new-gmp-manufacturing-facility-in-vancouver-canada.html |
| Vancouver: investment over CAD 150 million (€93 million), up to CAD 68 million (about €42 million) from the federal government, more than three times the current capacity, stronger quality control and microbiological testing | Sourced (company description) | Reference 1 https://www.evonik.com/en/news/press-releases/2026/08/evonik-expands-lipid-based-drug-delivery-capabilities-with-new-gmp-manufacturing-facility-in-vancouver-canada.html |
| Drug product production at the new Vancouver plant planned for the end of 2029, and the network of Cambridge, Birmingham, Dossenheim and Hanau | Not yet confirmed | Reference 1 https://www.evonik.com/en/news/press-releases/2026/08/evonik-expands-lipid-based-drug-delivery-capabilities-with-new-gmp-manufacturing-facility-in-vancouver-canada.html |
| The Hanau GMP lipid facility (opened 8 March 2023), the lipids it handles (PEGylated lipids, phospholipids, ionizable cationic lipids), purification including chromatography, PhytoChol capacity, and the division target (system solutions from 20% to over 50% by 2030) | Sourced (company description) | Reference 4 https://www.evonik.com/en/news/press-releases/2023/03/evonik-opens-new-facility-for-pharmaceutical-lipids-at-site-in-h.html |
| The Hanau and Dossenheim specialty lipid facilities, orders of a few kilograms, LNP development in Burnaby since 2016, commercial LNP manufacturing and filling in Birmingham, the Wilshire Technologies acquisition (early 2020), the project supported by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs (from January 2023), and the roles of the four LNP lipids | Sourced (company description) | Reference 10 https://www.evonik.com/en/company/we-go-beyond/lipids.html |
| The Transferra Nanosciences acquisition (2016), the partnership with Acuitas Therapeutics and scale-up of two lipids, the impingement jet mixers in Vancouver, phase 3 and commercial work in Birmingham, nebulizer testing in Cambridge, the lab on the MIT campus | Sourced (company description) | Reference 11 https://elements.evonik.com/en/articles/1_2026/lnp_lipids.html |
| Opening of the Cambridge Innovation Satellite (June 2024), long-standing membership of MIT's Industrial Liaison Program, the focus of the venture investing | Sourced | Reference 5 https://www.evonik.com/en/news/press-releases/2024/06/evonik-enters-greater-boston-s-life-sciences-ecosystem.html |
| The rPEG license with the University of Mainz (20 February 2024), technical grade planned for the second half of 2024, the stated aim of an improved immunogenicity profile, and the 2021 collaboration with Stanford University | Sourced (company description) | Reference 6 https://www.evonik.com/en/news/press-releases/2024/02/evonik-partners-with-the-university-of-mainz-to-commercialize-a-.html |
| The partnership with ST Pharm (8 January 2025) | Sourced | Reference 7 https://www.evonik.com/en/news/press-releases/2025/01/evonik-partners-with-st-pharm-to-increase-its-offerings-for-rna-.html |
| The strategic partnership with Ethris (9 September 2025), SNaP LNP thermostability and local retention, nebulized delivery to the lungs | Sourced (company description) | Reference 8 https://www.evonik.com/en/news/press-releases/2025/09/evonik-and-ethris-enter-strategic-partnership-to-expand-offerings-for-nucleic-acid-delivery.html |
| The US$100 million equipment upgrade for small-molecule drug substances at Lafayette Tippecanoe Labs (8 July 2026) and the statement on regional production | Sourced | Reference 9 https://www.evonik.com/en/news/press-releases/2026/07/evonik-invests-100-million-usd-to-upgrade-drug-substance-manufacturing-site-in-lafayette-indiana.html |
| The PhytoChol Inject manufacturing route (semi-synthetic from plant sterols), pharmacopoeial compliance, and regulatory reasons concerning animal-derived materials | Sourced (company description) | Reference 12 and 13 https://www.evonik.com/en/products/hc/pr_52050742.html https://www.evonik.com/en/applications/application_1993583/phytochol-inject-plant-derived-cholesterol-for-parenteral-mrna-and-gene-delivery.html |
| The evaluation of KNAUER's NanoScaler Pro (0.5 to 50 mL, continuous operation, five mixer sizes, no carry-over, reproducibility) | Sourced (company description) | Reference 14 https://www.evonik.com/content/dam/evonik/documents/evonik-poster-ijm-nanoscaler-pro-from-high-throughput-screening-to-commercial-manufacturing-of-lipid-nanoparticles.pdf |
| The appointment of an interim CEO effective 1 September 2026 | Sourced | Reference 18 https://www.evonik.com/en/investor-relations.html |
| The logo image is the logo published in the header of the official site | Sourced | Reference 19 https://www.evonik.com/ |
| Forecasts of LNP market size (US$2.7 billion; over US$600 million up to US$1 billion) are market forecasts and are not used | Not yet confirmed | Policy of this article (market estimates from research firms and similar are not used). The figures themselves appear in the releases of References 1 and 7 |
| Sales, profit, headcount, R&D and capital expenditure actuals of the lipid and LNP business alone, customer names, production capacity (kg or tonnes), purity and endotoxin specifications, the start date of Lafayette, the name and amount of the German ministry-backed project, and the current sales status of rPEG lipids | Not yet confirmed | Not stated in the official materials. This article does not claim they do not exist (this article) |
| The readings that the differentiator is system solutions from one company, that new materials are brought in through university and start-up partnerships, that inhalation is a growth area, that the center of gravity of facilities is North America, and that large facilities advance on public preparedness and public funding, plus the interpretation of the public share | Inference | Reference 1 and 2 and 4 and 6 and 8 and 9 https://www.evonik.com/en/news/press-releases/2026/08/evonik-expands-lipid-based-drug-delivery-capabilities-with-new-gmp-manufacturing-facility-in-vancouver-canada.html https://www.evonik.com/en/news/press-releases/2023/03/evonik-breaks-ground-on--220-million-lipid-innovation-center-in-.html https://www.evonik.com/en/news/press-releases/2023/03/evonik-opens-new-facility-for-pharmaceutical-lipids-at-site-in-h.html https://www.evonik.com/en/news/press-releases/2024/02/evonik-partners-with-the-university-of-mainz-to-commercialize-a-.html https://www.evonik.com/en/news/press-releases/2025/09/evonik-and-ethris-enter-strategic-partnership-to-expand-offerings-for-nucleic-acid-delivery.html https://www.evonik.com/en/news/press-releases/2026/07/evonik-invests-100-million-usd-to-upgrade-drug-substance-manufacturing-site-in-lafayette-indiana.html |
| Evonik's own share (lower bounds: 220 − 150 = 70 and 150 − 68 = 82), the public share (150 ÷ 220 = about 68%; 68 ÷ 150 = about 45% or less), and Custom Solutions' share of sales (5,492 ÷ 14,069 = about 39%) | Our calculation | Our calculation in this article (upper-limit figures are used, so Evonik's own share is a lower bound; figures from References 1, 2 and 15) |
| The classification of Evonik as Nanomedicine (primary) and Nanomaterial producers (secondary), and the four-type framework | Our calculation | Our classification in this article (technical explanations are general commentary, not values for the company's individual products. See our technical explainers) |
| Technical explanations on lipid purification and changeovers, the relation of impingement jet mixing to particle size and polydispersity, and the origin of raw materials and regulation | Our calculation | Our commentary in this article (general technical explanation, not process details published by the company. See our explainer on lipid nanoparticles) |
Last updated: 9 October 2026 / Troy Technical
This article is based on Evonik's official press releases, official financial KPI file, official product pages, technical magazine and joint poster. It does not use market estimates from research firms or press-only figures. Passages marked "Inference" are our interpretation of primary sources and are not company statements. Product features are the company's descriptions, and almost no performance values are published. Company plans and targets are not confirmed and are no guarantee of delivery. This article explains materials and manufacturing technology; it does not evaluate the effectiveness or safety of any medicine or vaccine and is not medical advice.