Another expansion has been announced by the parent corporation of College Station’s FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies (FDB) facility.
Details about the projects to add development and manufacturing capacity by location, totaling $850 million dollars, will be released after FDB finishes initial engineering studies that are underway.
Expansions at existing FUJIFILM sites in the United States and the United Kingdom will begin operations by late 2023.
The U.S. expansions will double cell culture production that goes into advanced gene therapies and coronavirus vaccines.
News release from FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies:
FUJIFILM Corporation (President: Teiichi Goto) announced today a ¥90 Billion Yen (~$850 Million USD) investment package to accelerate the growth of its core Bio CDMO subsidiary, FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies. FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies is an industry-leading biologics Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO) with over thirty years of experience in the development and manufacturing of recombinant proteins, vaccines, monoclonal antibodies, among other large molecules and viral products expressed in a wide array of microbial, mammalian, and host/virus systems.
FUJIFILM Corporation is steadily expanding its Bio CDMO business by investing in FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies’ strength in contract development and manufacturing to increase capacity to meet the market demands for biopharmaceuticals. Today’s announcement brings the total investments made by Fujifilm in FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies since 2011 to $5.5B USD (¥600 Billion Yen).
The $850 Million USD (¥90 Billion Yen) investment will significantly increase FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies’ manufacturing capacity. The expansions will double cell culture production for recombinant vaccines in the United States. In the United Kingdom gene therapy production will be increased ten-fold, cell culture capacity will be tripled and microbial fermentation output at the existing 5,000L scale facility will be doubled. The United Kingdom cell culture expansion will also include cGMP capacity for continuous manufacturing. Process and analytical development capacity will also be strategically added as part of this investment package. The expansions are scheduled to begin operating by late 2023. Further details on the capabilities of the new and expanded facilities will be disclosed upon conclusion of initial engineering studies that are currently ongoing.
Market growth for CDMO services, including outsourcing process development, analytical development, bulk drug substance manufacturing, fill/finish and finished goods (packaging) production, is expected to continue due to increasing demand for biotherapeutics such as antibodies, gene therapy treatments and vaccines against new infectious diseases such as COVID-19.
“Fujifilm will never stop in its relentless pursuit to develop new technologies and provide the necessary manufacturing capacity to meet the needs of our customers and accelerate the growth of its Bio CDMO business,” said Teiichi Goto, president of FUJIFILM Corporation. “We will contribute to promoting a healthy society and developing the healthcare industry by providing a stable supply of high-quality biopharmaceuticals with our advanced technologies and facilities.”