Japan-headquartered Fujifilm Corporation has announced the investment of $200 million in two subsidiaries to significantly expand global cell therapy contract development and manufacturing (CDMO) capabilities. The investment will enable Fujifilm to support the expanding cell therapy market which is anticipated to grow by more than 30% per year up from $3.3 billion in FY2022.

The $200 million investment in cell therapy manufacturing capabilities is earmarked for both the new headquarters of Fujifilm Cellular Dynamics, Inc., a leading global developer and manufacturer of human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) and iPSC-derived cells, and the California site of Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies, a world-leading CDMO in biologics and advanced therapies.

This investment will strengthen Fujifilm’s manufacturing capacity to support iPSC-derived cell therapies, as well as Cytoxic Tlymphocyte (CTL), Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR), T-cell receptor (TCR), Natural killer (NK) and tissue-derived therapies.

It will fund Fujifilm Cellular Dynamics’ new 175,000 sq. ft headquarters in Madison, Wisconsin, US, located in BioMidwest, a hub of life science companies and academia. The new campus located at 8402 Excelsior Drive will house iPSC cGMP manufacturing with three clean room suites, process development laboratories, warehouse operations and administrative space. This investment will double the company’s existing manufacturing capacity for the development and commercialization of iPSC-derived cell therapies for its partners. The new site will also include iPSC manufacturing for research and development applications for drug discovery, drug efficacy, and pharmacology. The full site will be operational in spring 2026.

The investment in Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies’ site in Thousand Oaks, California, US, located near a major cluster of pharmaceutical, biotech, and venture capital firms, will fund the site expansion with a new development lab and two new independent manufacturing clean rooms, significantly increasing production capacity for new client programmes. The added capacity will be operational in early 2025.