Tosoh Bioscience aims to meet the increased demand for separation and purification media by investing $120 million to expand its Nanyo Complex in Shunan City, Japan.

According to Tosoh, separation and purification media are critical products of its bioscience division, which are required in the purification process of biopharmaceutical production and various other processes.

The firm noted that one of the most important applications is the purification of antibody-derived molecules. Meanwhile, demand for RNA-based vaccines and drugs, other modalities, and gene therapies is still growing.

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Furthermore, Tosoh claims the oligonucleotide drug market is also increasing at a rapid rate and to meet the demand for all mentioned applications, the firm says upping its manufacturing capacity by 70% will create supply security.

Construction is expected to be completed by July 2024 and commercial operations are anticipated to launch in March 2025.

The firm also said that it will continue to “aggressively” invest in separation and purification media, as well as pe-packed columns for purification and chromatography systems.

Tosoh bolstered its downstream bioproduction portfolio, made up of chromatography resins, through the acquisition of Semba Biosciences in October 2021.  The deal saw Tosoh gain all of Semba’s staff and assets for an undisclosed fee.

Overall, the company said it wants to become a total solution provider and believes the expansion will enable Tosoh to keep up with the demand