Eyeing growth in regenerative medicine, Fujifilm spends $800M on two new members of its CDMO business
In a sign that it’s doubling-down on the contract manufacturing and development business, Japan’s Fujifilm is paying $800 million to acquire two companies specializing in cell culture media.
Both companies, Irvine Scientific Sales Company (ISUS) and IS Japan (ISJ), were previously owned by Japanese petroleum giant JXTG. Cell therapies, including CAR-T and regenerative stem cell therapies, will be a key focus, Fujifilm writes in a detailed statement mapping out its plans.
“The market for cell culture media is expanding following the dramatic growth in the demand for biopharmaceuticals centered around antibody drugs and the increasing need for treatments using cells, and its annual growth is expected to be approximately 10% going forward,” reads the company statement.
This is the latest in a streak of investments in the field for Fujifilm, which already counts iPS cell specialist Cellular Dynamics International and somatic stem cell developer Japan Tissue Engineering among its subsidiaries. Last September, it handed NC Medical Research $4 million in exchange for a stake in its portfolio of stroke treatments.
And then there’s the monoclonal antibody manufacturing that Fujifilm does through another subsidiary, Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologie, which has been ramping up its facilities in Texas and the UK.
Between ISUS and ISJ, Tokyo-based Fujifilm will now enjoy a distribution spread across the US, Europe and Asia. But it’s not stopping there; in the coming months, it plans to open a new site in Boston to market products and services to those developing new drugs in the area.
