Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies (FDB) will utilize $300m (€265m) to add a current good manufacturing practice (cGMP) production facility to its Texas-located, US site. The latest investment in the location will double the company’s advanced therapy and vaccine manufacturing capacity in the US.
The facility is expected to be operational by 2024 and will add 138,000-square-feet to the existing site, contributing to a total space of 300,000-square-feet at the location.
By adding the facility, Fujifilm Diosynth expects to create 150 positions in manufacturing and operations by 2024.
Fujifilm Corporation’s investment in the site is part of a global initiative to expand its subsidiary’s capabilities, which saw another build-out in the US to double its cell culture capacity, as well as greatly expand services at its UK site.
Expansion plans
In terms of what equipment will be added by the facility, the company stated that it would house ‘multiple 500L and 2,000L bioreactors’, alongside purification equipment.
When asked, a spokesperson for Fujifilm Diosynth did not specify what the total capacity of the new site would be, other than doubling its present capability. However, the Texas site is already able to claim to be the largest single-use contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) production campus in North America.
According to the spokesperson, the company is investing in capacity in advanced therapies and vaccines, because “tomorrow’s medicines may be needed very quickly. We have seen this with COVID at a massive global scale.”
The company’s capacity expansion has accelerated in the last year, as it announced a $2bn investment in the largest cell culture CDMO facility in North America, in North Carolina, which is expected to be opened in 2025. This followed on from US$928m being funneled into the expansion of its Hillerød, Denmark plant.
Turning to the Lone Star state
Of the total $300m, the Texas Enterprise Fund Award will contribute $1.5m, with the funds being provided to companies in the state providing ‘quality’ jobs.
When asked about the attraction of building out its site in Texas, the spokesperson outlined that the state “offers us a strong pipeline of talent to fill a variety of positions needed at our site including engineering, manufacturing, and operations roles.”
Beyond this, the spokesperson noted that its relationships established with the universities operating in Texas, such as Texas A&M, provide a good foundation of skilled workers for the future.
