Fujifilm to Invest Additional $1.2 Billion to Expand its Large-Scale Cell Culture CDMO Business in North Carolina

TOKYO, April 11, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- FUJIFILM Corporation today announced an investment of $1.2 billion in its Large-Scale Cell Culture CDMO* Business to further expand the planned FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies end-to-end bio-manufacturing facility in Holly Springs, North Carolina, bringing the total investment in the facility to over $3.2 billion. The expansion adds significant large-scale production capacity to FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies’ global network through its United States and Europe manufacturing hubs. The investment will generate an additional 680 jobs by 2031, also bringing the total number of new, highly skilled local jobs to 1400 in Holly Springs.

The new investment in FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies’ large-scale cell culture facility in Holly Springs will add 8 x 20,000 liters (L) mammalian cell culture bioreactors by 2028, to the already planned 8 x 20,000 L for bulk drug substance as part of the initial investment. This new facility allows for flexibility to expand with additional bioreactors to accommodate new projects to meet the emerging needs of partners, and upon completion will make the site one of the largest cell culture biopharmaceutical CDMO facilities in North America. 

The strategic investment and expansion supports a key pillar of FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies’ Partners for Life strategy, which is to build capacity in large-scale production in locations across the U.S. and Europe to support biopharma customers’ end-to-end needs, and provide supply chain resiliency. Through FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies’ modular production model, KojoXTM, the expansion enables the Company to construct identical large-scale production facilities in U.S. and Europe to ensure that customers can seamlessly integrate drug manufacturing production regardless of location.

"This investment is an important step to further accelerate the growth of our biopharmaceutical CDMO business,” said Teiichi Goto, president and chief executive officer, representative director, FUJIFILM Corporation. “Fujifilm is committed to advancing a healthier society, and we are proud that our people, and this site in Holly Springs will play a vital role in supporting our partners in producing critical therapies to serve the needs of patients."

“The new jobs created by the expansion of FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies in Wake County is yet another example of the thriving economic relationship between North Carolina and Japan, and we are grateful for their continuing investments in our state,” said North Carolina Governor Cooper. “Japanese companies continue to provide good-paying jobs and economic opportunity for people across North Carolina.”

“We are pleased to continue investing to grow our cell culture manufacturing capabilities in North Carolina in anticipation of the growing outsourcing needs of biopharma companies,” said Toshihisa Iida, corporate vice president of FUJIFILM Corporation and chairman of FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies. “North Carolina continues to offer advantageous and well-established benefits specific to Fujifilm’s biomanufacturing business such as sustainable energy resources, infrastructure for future growth and a strong pool of technical talent.” 

The antibody drug market is expected to grow at an annual rate of 8% through 2030** due to increasing demands for conventional antibody drugs as well as the expansion of antibody drug conjugates (ADCs) and novel antibody drugs using bispecific antibodies. 

“Securing adequate capacity to support market demands is a cornerstone of our Partners for Life strategy and essential to helping our partners bring life-impacting medicines to patients,” said Lars Petersen, president and chief executive officer, FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies. “As we build our new state-of-the-art biomanufacturing facility, we are grateful to our partners including Governor Cooper, the state of North Carolina, and the Town of Holly Springs. The Town of Holly Springs and the State of North Carolina have together created an ideal environment for growth and development through their strategic investments in water, sewer, and road infrastructure, making it an ideal place for us to expand here.”

In line with the overall design and construction of the Holly Springs facility, today’s announced investment will incorporate sustainability initiatives that contribute to net-zero operations. All energy needs for operations is expected to be 100% offset through the use of renewable landfill gas, onsite solar and the 125,000 MWh of annual sustainable solar energy from a virtual power purchase agreement. Additional sustainability goals for water and waste reduction align with Fujifilm’s Sustainable Value Plan 2030, and the campus is on track to achieve LEED Gold Certification with initiatives that include diverting 90% of construction waste from landfill, additional rooftop solar electricity, installation of heat recovery chiller systems to maximize efficiency between boilers and the chilled water system, use of low embodied carbon concrete utilizing waste fly ash which delivers a 10% reduction in carbon emissions compared to standard cement, and installing ultra-low Nitrogen Oxide boilers, leading to a 50% reduction in nitrogen emissions. 

FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies’ project in North Carolina will be facilitated, in part, by a Job Development Investment Grant (JDIG) approved by the state’s Economic Investment Committee earlier today. Over the course of the 12-year term of this grant, the project is estimated to grow the state’s economy by $4.7 billion.

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About FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies
FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies, a subsidiary of FUJIFILM Corporation, is a world-leading contract development and manufacturing organization partner for the development and manufacture of biologics, vaccines, cell and gene therapies, and oncolytic viruses. The company operates a global network with major locations in the United States of America, the United Kingdom and Denmark and it is building a new manufacturing site in Holly Springs, North Carolina, USA. FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies has over thirty years of experience in the development and manufacture 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. For more information, go to: www.fujifilmdiosynth.com.

About FUJIFILM Holdings Corporation
FUJIFILM Holdings Corporation, Tokyo, leverages its depth of knowledge and proprietary core technologies to deliver Value from Innovation in our products and services in the business segments of healthcare, materials, business innovation, and imaging. Our relentless pursuit of innovation is focused on providing social value and enhancing the lives of people worldwide. Fujifilm is committed to responsible environmental stewardship and good corporate citizenship. For more information about Fujifilm’s Sustainable Value Plan 2030, click here. For the year ended March 31, 2023, the company had global revenues of approximately 2.9 trillion yen (21 billion $USD at an exchange rate of 134 yen/dollar). For more information, please visit: www.fujifilmholdings.com.

*Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization
**Our estimate based on the Evaluate Pharma ® World Preview; market growth rate from 2022-2030

Christine Jackman
FUJIFILM Holdings America Corporation
9142614959
[email protected]