FUJIFILM Corporation announced 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.”
About Fujifilm
FUJIFILM Holdings Corporation, Tokyo, Japan, brings cutting edge solutions to a broad range of global industries by leveraging its depth of knowledge and fundamental technologies developed in its relentless pursuit of innovation. Its proprietary core technologies contribute to the various fields including healthcare, highly functional materials, document solutions and imaging products. These products and services are based on its extensive portfolio of chemical, mechanical, optical, electronic and imaging technologies. For the year ended March 31, 2021, the company had global revenues of $21 billion, at an exchange rate of 106 yen to the dollar. Fujifilm is committed to responsible environmental stewardship and good corporate citizenship.
FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies is an industry-leading biologics Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO) with locations in Teesside, UK, RTP, North Carolina, College Station, Texas and Hillerød, Denmark. FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies has over thirty years of experience in the development and manufacturing of recombinant proteins, vaccines, monoclonal antibodies, among other large molecules, viral products and medical countermeasures expressed in a wide array of microbial, mammalian, and host/virus systems. The company offers a comprehensive list of services from cell line development using its proprietary pAVEway™ microbial and Apollo™X cell line systems to process development, analytical development, clinical and FDA-approved commercial manufacturing. FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies is a partnership between FUJIFILM Corporation and Mitsubishi Corporation.
