While medical science continues to advance daily, there remain numerous diseases for which effective treatments have yet to be established, including cancer, rare diseases, and new infectious diseases. In response to such unmet medical needs, Fujifilm is leveraging its strengths in advanced production, analysis and engineering technologies cultivated through the development and manufacture of a wide range of products, including photographic film, for its biopharmaceutical contract development and manufacturing business (Bio CDMO business) and its Life Sciences business which provides drug discovery support materials such as iPS cells and cell culture media.
Biopharmaceuticals have emerged as a promising solution for addressing unmet medical needs, including intractable and rare diseases. The market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 9% from 2023 to 2030*1 . On the other hand, the manufacturing of biopharmaceuticals requires advanced production technologies and equipment, leading to an increase in cases where pharmaceutical companies outsource process development and manufacturing to CDMOs*2.
The Fujifilm Group possesses industry-leading cultivation and production technologies, and offers contract manufacturing services for biopharmaceuticals, including one-stop solutions for process development, manufacturing of drug substances, formulation, and packaging.
Since its full-scale market entry in 2011, Fujifilm’s Bio CDMO business has responded to the growing demand for biopharmaceuticals by strategic investments in facility expansions. This commitment extends beyond antibody drugs to include gene and cell therapy drugs for cutting-edge medical fields. In recent years, in addition to increasing the capacity of and building new factories in Europe, the United States, and Japan, Fujifilm Holdings, the parent company, issued social bonds as a means to finance the growth of its Bio CDMO business in FY2022 and FY2024.
We aim to become a reliable and true partner for our customers, supporting them in delivering cutting-edge pharmaceuticals with reliable quality, faster to more patients. In doing so, we will help address social challenges such as unmet medical needs and contribute to the further development of the healthcare industry.
- *1 Our focus market, excluding Vaccines, etc. Fujifilm estimation based on EvaluatePharma (Download: 2025 Jan 9)
- *2 Abbreviation for Contract Development & Manufacturing Organization. Providing pharmaceutical companies with various services such as cell line development in early development stage, production process development, stability testing, development and manufacturing of investigational drugs and manufacturing of commercial drugs.
In our Life Sciences business, we support pharmaceutical companies engaged in the research, development, and manufacturing of biopharmaceuticals by providing essential products such as "cells," primarily iPS cells, "cell culture media" containing nutrients for cell growth and proliferation, and "reagents" for performance and quality verification. Additionally, our group company, FUJIFILM Cellular Dynamics, Inc., is involved in contract development and manufacturing of cellular therapies utilizing iPS cells.
In particular, “cell culture media”, which are essential for cell culture in the research and development and manufacturing of biopharmaceuticals, are seeing annual growth of over 8% in the global market*3, due to the increasing demand for biopharmaceuticals such as antibody drugs and vaccines, as well as the development of cutting-edge medical treatments such as cell therapy and gene therapy. Through our group companies, FUJIFILM Irvine Scientific, Inc. and FUJIFILM Wako Pure Chemical Corporation, we are globally expanding our cell culture media business. Leveraging our strong research and development capabilities, excellent quality control, and cGMP*4-compliant production facilities, we develop and provide high-quality, high-performance media worldwide.
In 2021, we established a new cell culture media plant within our European base, FUJIFILM Manufacturing Europe B.V. (Netherlands), and have established a global production system with three bases in Japan, the United States, and Europe. We are actively working to increase production capacity to meet the growing demand for cell culture media. In Japan, the United States, and China, we also offer a service to customize cell culture media according to customer needs.
We will continue to expand our Life Sciences business through our pharmaceutical R&D and manufacturing support business, and contribute to the further development of the pharmaceutical industry.
- *3 In the field of cell culture media for pharmaceutical manufacturing, which is a focus of our company. According to our research.
- *4 Abbreviation for current Good Manufacturing Practice which are regulations enforced by the FDA
