Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies says the continual growth of the biopharma CDMO market means its Danish site will help meet industry demands as it begins its $928 million cell culture expansion project.

In June 2020, the firm announced plans to invest $928 million to double capacity at the Danish site it acquired from Biogen in 2019. The capacity was 90,000 L and the expansion (which started last week) will boast another six large-scale stainless-steel tanks, giving a total capacity of 240,000 L when installation is complete, expected in the second half of 2023.

Fujifilm will also add a fill/finish production line at the facility, which will boast a fully automated system that can produce up to approximately 35 million units per annum.

Image/iStock: pikepicture

The large-scale expansion in Denmark is one of several that the contract development manufacturing organization (CDMO) Fujifilm has made. However, the firm told us its latest expansion is strategic and matches the demand of the industry.

“The strategic reason for this expansion is that our data suggests that the biopharma CDMO market is growing at over 8 percent annually, and we are prepared to meet that demand,” Fujifilm spokeswoman Christine Jackson told BioProcess Insider. “We are also seeing this trend with our customers; since acquiring the Denmark site, and combining the site’s advanced infrastructure with our manufacturing experience, we’ve seen an influx in new orders from existing and new clients.”

Continued CDMO market demand

Last February, the firm invested $54 million to expand its cell culture facility in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. Fujifilm also broke ground on $14.5 million UK biocampus in Billingham, to support biologic, vaccine, and gene therapy development and manufacturing for its customers.

In January, the firm said its expansion in Denmark has driven a $2 billion investment to add a further 160,000 L of US bioreactor capacity and aims to build and open a mammalian cell culture facility in the US in 2025.

“Fujifilm has highlighted the CDMO business as a priority growth area and is actively investing in technology to expand its manufacturing capacity to meet the growing demands of customers,” said senior executive vice president and general manager of Bio CDMO division, Takatoshi Ishikawa.