Lonza Group, the Swiss company that now owns Bend Research, is planning a third expansion since 2015 of the local product development and manufacturing campus..

The company plans to add about 12,000 square feet to its manufacturing building at 20503 Builders St., according to documents filed with the city of Bend Community Development Department. That’s the same facility where Capsugel, the previous owner of Bend Research, made a $25 million, 5,872-square-foot expansion that was completed in July 2015.

Meanwhile, Bend Research has started work on a two-story expansion of its engineering building at 63045 Corporate Place, which is north of the manufacturing building. Begun under Capsugel’s ownership, the engineering and product-development addition is split between industrial space at 5,206 square feet and office at 7,076 square feet.

Contracting with brand-name pharmaceutical companies, Bend Research specializes in putting active pharmaceutical ingredients into pills that can be more easily absorbed by the human body. Bend Research also makes drugs for timed release and in inhaled forms. Bend Research’s technology is part of what made Capsugel, based in New Jersey, an attractive acquisition target for Lonza, which completed the $5.5 billion deal July 6.

Lonza spokesman Dominik Werner, who is based in Switzerland, did not respond to a question about what’s driving the latest expansion. Asked in November whether Bend Research will gain any lines of business or technology, he said via email: “This is too early to determine, the site will continue to play an important role in the entire network and offering.”

Werner also said no major changes are planned in staffing. He did not respond to a question about the current headcount, but as of last year it was around 350 people.

Lonza will re-brand Bend Research, founded in the mid-1970s in Tumalo, over time, Werner said in November, but the exact name has not yet been determined.

The latest expansion plan was filed with the city Dec. 1, and it might not be the last, city planner Karen Swenson said. Earlier this year Bend Research representatives met with planners to discuss a 30,000 square-foot industrial building on land to the south of the main campus, off Murray Road, she said. The company’s representatives didn’t say how soon that might come to fruition.

On Builders Street, Lonza plans to renovate the manufacturing building to devote more space to production, Werner said in an email. The 12,000 square-foot addition will provide office space to make up for what’s lost in the conversion while accommodating the existing headcount, he said.

Bend Research has enough parking at the manufacturing building for its largest shift, which is 100 employees, and that will grow to 220 employees, according to a document the company filed with the city. Swenson said her understanding is that the company is redistributing employees on the campus.

—Reporter: 541-617-7860, kmclaughlin@bendbulletin.com