Fujifilm Selects North Carolina as the Location to Build the Largest Cell Culture Biopharmaceutical CDMO Facility in North America
Fujifilm to invest $2 Billion and create 725 jobs with its new state-of-the-art large-scale cell culture manufacturing facility in Holly Springs, North Carolina
TOKYO, March 18, 2021― FUJIFILM Corporation (President: Kenji Sukeno) has announced the selection of Holly Springs, North Carolina as the location for its new large-scale cell culture production site in the United States. The previously announced investment of more than 200 Billion yen (2 Billion USD) to establish the largest end-to-end cell culture biopharmaceutical CDMO[1] facility in North America will create 725 highly-skilled jobs in the area by the end of 2028. FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies, a subsidiary of FUJIFILM Corporation, with development and manufacturing facilities across the United States, United Kingdom, and Denmark, will operate the new facility.
A rigorous data-driven evaluation process was followed to make the selection of Holly Springs, North Carolina as the home for the new facility. Holly Springs, North Carolina was selected for its strong pool of technical talent, local resources and partners with the right competencies, clean energy resources, and sustainability for future growth. With an existing facility in Morrisville, North Carolina, FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies is committed to continue its strong collaboration with state and local officials, which has been built over the years.
The new facility will offer large-scale cell culture manufacturing of bulk drug substance production with 8 x 20,000L bioreactors with the potential to expand and add a further 24 x 20,000L bioreactors based on market demand. In addition, the facility will also provide commercial scale, automated fill-finish and assembly, packaging, and labelling services. The facility is expected to be operational by spring 2025.
The facility will be designed and built with sustainability as its core. The facility design targets 100% clean energy utilization, implementation of cutting edge waste disposal and recycling, among other sustainability goals.
“Holly Springs, North Carolina is a suitable location for us, as it is one of the most active communities in the US in addressing environmental and social issues,” said Kenji Sukeno, president of FUJIFILM Corporation. “Fujifilm will contribute to realizing a sustainable society by collaborating with the Holly Springs community and stimulating the local economy, and further, by accelerating “resolving social issues through business activities” in alignment with our Sustainable Value Plan 2030*. And, the new site is strategically important to accelerate the growth of our Bio CDMO business.”
“We are passionate about the tremendous value that this new facility will bring to our partners in producing life-impacting therapies. To build what will be the largest end-to-end cell culture CDMO facility in North America requires commitment and partnership. We are delighted to have received the strong support from the town of Holly Springs and the state of North Carolina. This is building for the future, both in infrastructure and in talent, as part of the vibrant North Carolina biotech hub,” said Martin Meeson, chief executive officer, FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies.
*Sustainable Value Plan 2030 is the company’s Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) plan, targeting to be achieved by FY2031/Q3. It defines four key areas, namely the “environment”, ”health”, ”daily life” and “work style”, from the perspectives of “considering environmental and social impacts through business processes” and “resolving social issues through business activities.” For the area of the “environment”, the plan sets numerical targets including “a 45% reduction in the volume of CO2 emitted across the entire product lifecycle compared to FY2014/Q3.”
About Fujifilm
FUJIFILM Corporation is an operating company of FUJIFILM Holdings Corporation. 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, graphic systems, highly functional materials, optical devices, digital imaging and document 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, 2020, the company had global revenues of $21 billion, at an exchange rate of 109 yen to the dollar. Fujifilm is committed to responsible environmental stewardship and good corporate citizenship. For more information, please visit: www.fujifilmholdings.com
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. For more information, go to: www.fujifilmdiosynth.com
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[1] Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization