FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies Announces $55 Million USD Investment To Expand Gene Therapy Development Capabilities

FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies will be expanding its gene therapy process and analytical development capabilities with the addition of new dedicated laboratories

COLLEGE STATION, Texas, Nov. 15, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies (FDB), a leading global biologics Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO) has announced the expansion of its gene therapy services with the addition of dedicated process and analytical development laboratories. As a part of a capital investment of approximately 13 billion yen (approx. $120 million USD) in the gene therapy field by FUJIFILM Corporation, an investment of approximately $55 million USD will be made to establish a new Gene Therapy Innovation Center adjacent to FDB's existing state-of-the-art cGMP gene therapy manufacturing facility in College Station, Texas and forms part of the company's strategy to meet the growing demands in the Viral Gene Therapy Market.  The gene therapy market forecast for CDMOs is expected to grow to $1.7Bn by 2025.¹  

The Gene Therapy Innovation Center will be approximately 60,000 square feet and will house state-of-the-art upstream, downstream and analytical development technologies.  The facility will be operational in the fall of 2021.

"We are very much aware of the incredible growth in such an important therapeutic space," said Martin Meeson, President and COO of FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies, US.  "We know that we need to invest now, in technology, assets and people in order to achieve a market leadership position. The expansion through the construction of the Gene Therapy Innovation Center demonstrates our ongoing commitment for growth."

FDB's main goals behind this new strategy are to provide leading, future proofed end-to-end gene therapy solutions, from pre-clinical to commercial launch. This follows an earlier announcement made by FDB to introduce its gene therapy fill finish services. "We expect to break ground in the first quarter of 2020," said Gerry Farrell, COO at FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies, Texas, "this new facility will triple our gene therapy development capabilities and will add approximately 100 jobs to our Texas Campus."

Gene Therapy remains a strategic investment area for Fujifilm.

About Fujifilm
FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies an industry-leading Biologics Contract  Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO) with locations in Teesside, UK, RTP, North Carolina, College Station, Texas and Hillerod, Denmark.  FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies has over thirty years of experience in the development and manufacturing of recombinant proteins, vaccines, monoclonal antibodies, among other large molecules, viral products and medical countermeasures expressed in a wide array of microbial, mammalian, and host/virus systems. The company offers a comprehensive list of services from cell line development using its proprietary pAVEway™ microbial and Apollo™ cell line systems to process development, analytical development, clinical and FDA-approved commercial manufacturing. FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies is a partnership between FUJIFILM Corporation and Mitsubishi Corporation.  For more information, go to: www.fujifilmdiosynth.com

FUJIFILM Holdings Corporation, Tokyo, Japan, brings cutting edge solutions to a broad range of global industries by leveraging its depth of knowledge and fundamental technologies developed in its relentless pursuit of innovation. Its proprietary core technologies contribute to the various fields including healthcare, graphic systems, highly functional materials, optical devices, digital imaging and document products. These products and services are based on its extensive portfolio of chemical, mechanical, optical, electronic and imaging technologies. For the year ended March 31, 2019, the company had global revenues of $22 billion, at an exchange rate of 111 yen to the dollar. Fujifilm is committed to responsible environmental stewardship and good corporate citizenship. For more information, please visit: www.fujifilmholdings.com.  

All product and company names herein may be trademarks of their registered owners.

¹ Market research conducted by FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies strategic business development group.

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