FUJIFILM entered into an agreement to acquire a cell therapy manufacturing facility from Atara Biotherapeutics for $100 million. Located in Thousand Oaks, CA, the facility is readily expandable with the flexibility to produce both clinical and commercial cell therapies, including allogeneic T-cell and CAR T immunotherapies, according to officials at FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies, a subsidiary of FUJIFILM. The CDMO will operate the new site.
The 90,000 ft2 manufacturing facility is currently named Atara T-cell Operations and Manufacturing (ATOM). At closing, Fujifilm plans to offer positions to approximately 140 current staff at the site.
As part of the agreement, FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies and Atara will enter into a long-term manufacturing and services agreement, which could extend to ten years to support the production of Atara’s clinical pipeline, which includes tabelecleucel (tab-cel®) for the treatment of Epstein-Barr virus positive post-transplant lymphoproliferative disease (EBV+PTLD).
The cell-therapy manufacturing facility complements FUJIFILM’s existing manufacturing operations in College Station, TX, Watertown, MA, and its BioCampus in the U.K.
“Fujifilm is currently accelerating business growth of [the] life sciences field and continues to aggressively invest in both capital and technology in its bio CDMO business,” said Teiichi Goto, president and CEO, representative director, FUJIFILM. “Through this acquisition Fujifilm can extend its CDMO offering to advanced cell therapies. Going forward, Fujifilm will, by providing a stable supply of high-quality biopharmaceuticals, further advance establishing tomorrow’s medicines that fulfill unmet medical needs.”
“FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies is a highly respected, quality-focused, industry-leading manufacturing and development organization that shares our pioneering culture and belief that allogeneic cell therapies will transform the future of medicine,” said Pascal Touchon, president, and CEO of Atara. “We are incredibly proud of our world-class ATOM staff and facility and believe that this strategic partnership will meet our long-term manufacturing needs.”
