Adding value for CDMO clients

Fujifilm completes acquisition of Biogen’s manufacturing site in Denmark

DDNews Staff
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TOKYO—Aug. 1 saw Fujifilm Corp. announce that it had completed the acquisition of Biogen (Denmark) Manufacturing ApS, a large-scale biologics manufacturing site located in Hillerød, Denmark, near Copenhagen, from Biogen. Fujifilm invested approximately $890 million in cash for the transaction.
 
With the closing of this transaction, the Hillerød Manufacturing site is now the fourth biopharmaceutical manufacturing site of Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies, a subsidiary of Fujifilm and a leading contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) with expertise in the development and manufacture of biologics and advanced therapies. Hillerød Manufacturing will change its name to Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies Denmark ApS once all regulatory procedures are complete.
 
The new site consists of a campus hosting a large-scale production facility equipped with 6 x 15,000L bioreactors for the manufacture of cell culture derived biologics for clinical and commercial use. There are nearly 800 employees in the Hillerød campus, which also houses an assembly, labeling and packaging facility, quality control laboratories and warehouses. The products that were manufactured under Biogen at the site will continue to be supplied by Hillerød Manufacturing under Fujifilm ownership.
 
“Fujifilm’s culture of innovation and its reputation of manufacturing excellence provides unique value to the bio CDMO industry,” commented Takatoshi Ishikawa, executive vice president and general manager of Bio CDMO Division, Fujifilm Corporation. “We will seek to continue to the further advancement of the pharmaceutical industry by serving our range of diverse customers’ needs through combining resources of the Biogen (Denmark) Manufacturing ApS and Fujifilm.”
 
“I am delighted to welcome the Biogen (Denmark) Manufacturing ApS team to the Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies family,” said Steve Bagshaw, CEO of Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies. “For us, this is more than an acquisition. It is fulfilling Fujifilm’s mission and the vision to bring new value to society, through innovation and the creation of new technologies, products and services.”
 
According to Fujifilm, this acquisition demonstrates the clear focus of the company to deliver on its strategy, not only to increase production capacity significantly, “but also to support projects from preclinical through to commercialization with best-in-class assets capable of delivering very small to very large production volumes.”
 
With its expertise in the process development, manufacture and aseptic filling for its full-service CDMO approach, and the capability for a variety of biologics—including recombinant proteins, monoclonal antibodies, viral vaccines and gene therapies—Fujifilm says it will continue to further expand the business and seeks to achieve ¥100 billion (about $9.4 million) in sales in its Bio CDMO business by the fiscal year ending March 2022.
 
Fujifilm Corp. is one of the major operating companies of Fujifilm Holdings Corp. The company brings cutting-edge solutions to a broad range of global industries by, as the company puts it, “leveraging its depth of knowledge and fundamental technologies developed in its relentless pursuit of innovation.”
 
Its proprietary core technologies contribute to the various fields including healthcare, graphic systems, highly functional materials, optical devices, digital imaging and document products. These products and services are based on its extensive portfolio of chemical, mechanical, optical, electronic and imaging technologies.
 
Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies is an industry-leading biologics CDMO with locations in Billingham and Redcar in the United Kingdom; Research Triangle Park. N.C., and College Station, Texas, in the United States; and now Hillerød in Denmark.
 
The company, which is a partnership between Fujifilm Corp. and Mitsubishi Corp., has more than 25 years of experience in the development and manufacturing of recombinant proteins, vaccines and monoclonal antibodies, among other biologics viral products and medical countermeasures expressed in a wide array of microbial, mammalian and host/virus systems.
 
The company offers a comprehensive list of services, from cell line development using its proprietary pAVEway microbial and Apollo cell line systems to process development, analytical development, clinical and FDA-approved commercial manufacturing.

DDNews Staff

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