Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies has commissioned on time its new mammalian cGMP Cell Banking Facility (CBF) at its Billingham, UK site.
The new CBF is available to customers either as part of a larger development and manufacturing programme, or as a stand-alone service. It forms the second stage of a major expansion of mammalian cell culture capabilities at the site, following installation last year of new process development and scale-up capabilities. The plant will support delivery of manufacturing programmes for Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies’ facilities in Billingham and at Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, US.
The next stage of the company’s expansion will be the commissioning of a new cGMP manufacturing facility, also in Billingham, which is well under construction and due on-line in Q4 2013. This facility, which will primarily use single-use technologies, will initially offer 200L and 1000L single-use bioreactors, with 2000L bioreactors already planned for 2014.
Steve Bagshaw, Managing Director, Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies UK, said: ‘I am delighted that we have commissioned the Cell Bank Facility within a year of its commencement, and have already started work on our first customer programme. This is the next step in our strategy to grow our services in the CDMO field, becoming a world-class player across both microbial and mammalian cell culture platforms, offering a full life cycle support for our customers.’
