FUJIFILM Biotechnologies has officially opened a major expansion of its biomanufacturing and process development operations in Teesside, UK, strengthening domestic and global supply capacity for biologics, vaccines and advanced therapies.
The £400m investment, funded by FUJIFILM Corporation of Japan, includes the launch of the UK’s largest single-use biopharmaceutical contract development and manufacturing organisation (CDMO) facility, located at the company’s existing Teesside campus.
The new 110,000 sqft GMP manufacturing building is scheduled to become operational in the first half of 2026.
The expanded site introduces 2000 L and 5000 L single-use bioreactors, delivering a total manufacturing capacity of up to 19,000 L.
The facility is designed to support small- and mid-scale antibody manufacturing, with flexibility to expand capacity in line with customer demand, enabling FUJIFILM Biotechnologies to support programmes from early clinical development through to commercial supply.
Alongside the manufacturing expansion, FUJIFILM Biotechnologies has opened the Bioprocess Innovation Centre UK (BIC UK), a 102,200 sqft state-of-the-art process development facility.
The new centre doubles the site’s laboratory footprint and provides advanced high-throughput and continuous bioprocess development capabilities, operating as a global centre of excellence for biomanufacturing innovation.
Together, the investments enhance the resilience and agility of FUJIFILM Biotechnologies’ global manufacturing network, supporting the development and production of complex biologics for indications including cancer, neurodegenerative diseases and rare disorders.
The UK expansion also forms part of the company’s kojoX modular biomanufacturing strategy, which harmonises equipment, systems and processes across global sites.
This enables rapid technology transfer between the Teesside facility and FUJIFILM’s biomanufacturing operations in Toyama, Japan.
The new manufacturing building has been fully electrified as part of FUJIFILM Holdings Corporation’s sustainability strategy, with all previously gas-powered production processes replaced. The site is targeting 100% renewable electricity use by 2030.
FUJIFILM Biotechnologies’ UK operations now employ more than 960 people and draw on 25 years of clinical and commercial CDMO experience.
The site offers end-to-end services spanning process development and current GMP manufacturing, including the company’s SymphonX downstream processing skid, designed to support flexible fed-batch and continuous bioprocessing across multiple scales.
The Teesside expansion further cements the North East of England as a key UK and European hub for advanced biomanufacturing and life sciences innovation.
"This site provides pharmaceutical and biotechnology partners with enhanced scalability, speed to market and cross-site technology transfer, helping to ensure reliable medicine supply for patients in the UK and globally," Lars Petersen, President and CEO of Fujifilm Biotechnologies, said in a statement.
"This represents the first small and mid-scale manufacturing site in our global kojoX ecosystem, which provides our partners with supply chain flexibility and agility."
"In leveraging kojoX across our sites, we are creating a framework where our partners can easily scale up and out from process development through clinical and commercial."
Jonathan Haigh, Senior Vice President, Head of UK Site, Fujifilm Biotechnologies, added: "Thank you to our 960+ employees and community partners for their dedication to strengthening the UK life sciences community and cementing the North-East as one of Britain’s – and Europe’s – leading biomanufacturing hubs."
"Through the FUJIFILM Biotechnologies’ academic partnerships with the University of Edinburgh, the University of Manchester and the University of York, we are building talent in STEM and advanced manufacturing, supporting the life sciences ecosystem and nurturing the next generation of Life Science specialists."