Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies announced a new $1.2 billion investment on Thursday to expand its large-scale biomanufacturing facility in Holly Springs, NC, with plans to add 680 jobs by 2031.
The site, which won’t open officially until 2025, will add eight more 20,000-liter mammalian cell culture bioreactors by 2028 to the eight existing 20,000-liter bioreactors. The number of jobs at the Holly Springs site will now total 1400, the company said.
Lars Petersen, president and CEO of Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies, told Endpoints News in a phone interview that the investment was driven largely by the strong demand for biologics manufacturing services, particularly for commercial products.
“We actually started this expansion before we opened the original,” Petersen said, pointing to growth in the antibody market over the past few years.
On whether this growth is also due to a shift away from CDMOs in China, Petersen said, “We cannot say that per se, but this facility planning started a year ago, before the Biosecure Act dialogue started.”
“We’ve seen the demand before that dialogue even started,” he added.
A state grant worth about $15 million over 12 years helped to pay for the site, said the state a release.