Dive Brief:
- Fujifilm is investing another $1.2 billion in its North Carolina contract drug manufacturing facility, expanding its cell culture production capacity in the U.S.
- The contract drug manufacturer will add eight 20,000-liter mammalian cell culture bioreactors, used for the cultivation of cells as part of antibody drug production, by 2028.
- The additional funds bring the Japan-based company's total project investment to $3.2 billion and add another 680 jobs at the site for a total of 1,400.
Dive Insight:
As the contract drug manufacturing sector grows in the U.S., Fujifilm is increasing production capacity to stay ahead of demand.
The company first announced the contract cell culture manufacturing site in 2021, investing $2 billion to build a large-scale bulk drug substance production site slated to open in 2025. Fujifilm initially stated the facility would include eight bioreactors, with the potential to add up to 24 more as demand grew, a possibility now coming to fruition.
The additional investment will help the company build two production modules, each with 20,000-liter production bioreactors, harvesting capabilities and downstream processing, according to a state release.
"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," Toshihisa Iida, corporate vice president of Fujifilm Corporation and chairman of Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies, said in a statement.
Fujifilm is also looking to create more secure supply chains in both the U.S. and Europe by putting manufacturing closer to its customers. The company is using a modular production model of its Denmark factory to design and construct an identical large-scale facility in North Carolina.
The company will export its production flow and design from Denmark to North Carolina, which it says will cut down on construction time and cost to open the Holly Springs site, Iida said during a company briefing last year.
"We do have [a] track record in Denmark that can be transferred to North Carolina," Iida said.
Fujifilm is also expanding elsewhere in North Carolina. Last year, it bought up additional land at the famed Research Triangle Park, adding 41 acres to its existing presence on the campus known for housing many of the country's top biomanufacturing companies.
