The new plant will triple the company’s existing capacity for liquid cell culture media production, creating more than 100 new jobs when it starts up at the beginning of 2025. Land development and construction are scheduled to start next spring.

The site will support cGMP manufacturing of dry powder and liquid media, adding additional annual production capacity of 800,000 kg for dry powder and 3.3 million liters for liquid, plus 40,000 liters per day of water for injection (WFI).

"The cell culture media that will be manufactured at this new site in North Carolina will help ensure a steady supply of raw materials for biologics, cell and gene therapies, and other key medicines that are essential to human health. The additional production capacity will ensure we meet the projected demand for cell culture media from our customers worldwide," said Yutaka Yamaguchi, chairman and CEO of Fujifilm Irvine Scientific.

The company added that demand for cell culture media to support bioproduction and advanced therapies is forecast to grow at an annual average of 10-12% through 2031.

Fujifilm chose the Research Triangle Park because it said the location provides enhanced supply chain security, along with more efficient shipping and faster delivery for its customers in the region. Fujifilm also manufactures cell culture media at facilities in California, at Saitama and Aichi in Japan, and in Tilburg, the Netherlands.

In June, the Japanese group announced plans to invest $1.6 billion to ramp up the cell culture manufacturing services of its CDMO subsidiary Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies in Hillerød, Denmark, and Texas, USA.

Author: Elaine Burridge, Freelance Journalist