Fujifilm plans to invest approximately JPY 13 billion ($120 million) in gene-therapy laboratories and manufacturing for its contract development and manufacturing business.

The investment will include the addition of dedicated gene-therapy laboratories. The new building will be part of Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies (FDB) College Station, Texas campus. This site has been FDB’s Center of Excellence for gene-therapy products since 2014. The laboratories will be approximately 6,000 square meters and will house upstream, downstream and analytical development technologies. They will be operational in the fall of 2021.

Fujifilm has also announced that additional investments include expanding FDB’s gene-therapy cGMP capacity. This will include the addition of new cleanrooms and the expansion of its upstream capacity with eight new 500 / 2,000-L single-use bioreactors. The site has been offering gene-therapy fill–finish services for both clinical and commercial products since early 2019. The first stage of the manufacturing expansion is expected to be completed and in operation by the spring of 2021.

Source: Fujifilm