Fujifilm invested $1.2 billion in its large-scale cell culture CDMO business to further expand the planned Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies end-to-end bio-manufacturing facility in Holly Springs, NC. The total investment in the facility now totals over $3.2 billion.
The new investment will add 8 x 20,000 liters mammalian cell culture bioreactors by 2028, to the already planned 8 x 20,000 L for bulk drug substance as part of the initial investment. This new facility allows for flexibility to expand with additional bioreactors to accommodate new projects to meet the emerging needs of partners, and upon completion will make the site one of the largest cell culture biopharmaceutical CDMO facilities in North America, according to Fujifilm officials.
Ability to construct identical large-scale production facilities
Through Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies’ modular production model, KojoXTM, the expansion enables the company to construct identical large-scale production facilities in U.S. and Europe to ensure that customers can seamlessly integrate drug manufacturing production regardless of location, noted Teiichi Goto, president and CEO, representative director, Fujifilm.
Based on the Evaluate Pharma World Preview, the antibody drug market is expected to grow at an annual rate of eight percent through 2030 due to increasing demands for conventional antibody drugs as well as the expansion of antibody drug conjugates (ADCs) and novel antibody drugs using bispecific antibodies.
“Securing adequate capacity to support market demands is a cornerstone of our Partners for Life strategy and essential to helping our partners bring life-impacting medicines to patients,” said Lars Petersen, president and CEO, Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies.
In line with the overall design and construction of the Holly Springs facility, the new investment will incorporate sustainability initiatives that contribute to net-zero operations. All energy needs for operations is expected to be 100% offset through the use of renewable landfill gas, onsite solar and the 125,000 MWh of annual sustainable solar energy from a virtual power purchase agreement.
Additional sustainability goals for water and waste reduction align with Fujifilm’s Sustainable Value Plan 2030, and the campus is on track to achieve LEED Gold Certification with initiatives that include diverting 90% of construction waste from landfill, additional rooftop solar electricity, installation of heat recovery chiller systems to maximize efficiency between boilers and the chilled water system, use of low embodied carbon concrete utilizing waste fly ash which delivers a 10% reduction in carbon emissions compared to standard cement, and installing ultra-low Nitrogen Oxide boilers, leading to a 50% reduction in nitrogen emissions, pointed out Petersen.
For related articles see GEN: “$2B or Not $2B: Fujifilm Diosynth Breaks Ground on NC Cell Culture Facility” and “Fujifilm Diosnynth Plans $2B Cell Culture Facility in Holly Springs, NC.”
