Fujifilm Corporation has announced it will make a capital investment of approximately 13 billion yen (US$120m) in the gene therapy field, one of the priority areas for growth in the CDMO business, in order to further expand it. The investment will include establishing a new gene therapy drug process development building and expanding product facilities in Texas, US.
Part fo the new additions will be edicated gene therapy laboratories. This new building will be part of Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies (FDB) College Station, Texas campus. The site in the US has been FDB's Center of Excellence for gene therapy products since 2014. The laboratories will be approximately 6,000 sqm and will house upstream, downstream and analytical development technologies. They will be operational in the autumn of 2021.
Fujifilm has also announced that additional investments include expanding FDB's gene therapy cGMP capacity. This will include the addition of new cleanrooms and the expansion of its upstream capacity with eight new 500/2,000 L single-use bioreactors. The site has been offering gene therapy fill-finish services for both clinical and commercial products since early 2019.
Fujifilm is aggressively pursuing growth strategies with both capital investment and in-house development of new tech
The first stage of the manufacturing expansion is expected to be completed and in operation by the spring of 2021.
Fujifilm says it is aggressively pursuing growth strategies with both capital investment and in-house development of high-efficiency/high-productivity new technologies. Sales of 100 billion yen ($920m) are expected for the CDMO business by the end of the fiscal year 2021 ending March 2022.
In August 2019, Fujifilm acquired the Biogen (Denmark) manufacturing facility, which added a significant increase in cell culture production capacity. Fujifilm is committed to supporting the delivery of new drugs with its customers through stable supply of high-quality products. The company strives to play a role in the creation of solutions to solve social issues such as responding to unmet medical needs and contributing to the overall progress of the healthcare industry.