The two separate investments involve building a $21m (€17.4m) site, which will be added to Fujifilm Cellular Dynamics (FCDI)’s network, and using ¥10bn ($91.9m) to expand operations at Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies (FDB).
FCDI’s site will be based in Madison, Wisconsin, and focus on manufacturing human induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell technologies. The site is expected to begin operations in March 2020.
Seimi Satake, CEO of FCDI, told us that the facility will have a dual focus: “FCDI will establish the cGMP-compliant facility to enhance and accelerate production of iPS cells for both its internal cell therapeutics pipeline, as well as serving as a contract development and manufacturing organisation (CDMO).”
According to Satake, FCDI is aiming to develop regenerative treatments using iPS cells, for age-related macular degeneration, retinitis pigmentosa, Parkinson’s disease, heart diseases, and cancer.
Satake stated that new hires would be brought in as needed by the progression of the company’s regenerative medicines portfolio and alongside the expansion of the CDMO side of the business.
Further expansion
FDB will use its investment to expand its North Carolina-based operations – $91.9m of funding will be used to add 2,000L of single use cell culture manufacturing trains, cell culture purification suites, and microbial recovery suites.
This will see the site increase its cell culture manufacturing capacity by approximately 25% and its microbial capacity by approximately 50%. The company noted in a statement that the expansion has been made in relation to “growing customer demand.”
The upgraded facilities are expected to complete in early 2020.