Fujifilm acquires new Denmark manufacturing facility

TOKYO—Fujifilm Corporation announced today that it has completed the acquisition of Biogen (Denmark) Manufacturing ApS, a large-scale biologics manufacturing site located in Hillerød near Copenhagen, Denmark, from Biogen Inc. Fujifilm has invested approximately US $890 million in cash for the transaction.

With the closing of this transaction, the Hillerød Manufacturing site is now the fourth biopharmaceutical manufacturing site of Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies, a subsidiary of Fujifilm and a leading contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) with expertise in the development and manufacture of biologics and advanced therapies. Hillerød Manufacturing will change its name to Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies Denmark ApS, once all regulatory procedures are complete.

“I am delighted to welcome the Biogen (Denmark) Manufacturing ApS team to the Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies family,” said Steve Bagshaw, chief executive officer of Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies. “For us this is more than an acquisition. It is fulfilling Fujifilm’s mission and the vision to bring new value to society, through innovation and the creation of new technologies, products and services.”

The new site consists of a campus hosting a large-scale production facility equipped with six 15,000L bioreactors for the manufacture of cell culture derived biologics for clinical and commercial use. There are close to 800 employees in the Hillerød campus, which also houses quality control laboratories, warehouses and an assembly, labeling and packaging facility. The products which were manufactured under Biogen at the site will continue to be supplied by Hillerød Manufacturing under Fujifilm ownership.

This acquisition appears to be part of Fujifilm’s focus on strategy — not only to increase production capacity significantly, but also to support projects from preclinical through to commercialization with best-in-class assets capable of delivering very small to very large production volumes. With its expertise in the process development, manufacture and aseptic filling for its full service CDMO approach, and the capability for a variety of biologics — including recombinant proteins, monoclonal antibodies, viral vaccines and gene therapies — Fujifilm will continue to further expand the business. The company seeks to achieve ¥100 billion in sales in its Bio CDMO business by fiscal year ending March 2022.

“Fujifilm’s culture of innovation and its reputation of manufacturing excellence provides unique value to the bio CDMO industry. We will seek to continue to the further advancement of the pharmaceutical industry by serving our range of diverse customers’ needs through combining resources of the Biogen (Denmark) Manufacturing ApS and Fujifilm,” added Takatoshi Ishikawa, executive vice president, general manager of Bio CDMO Division, Fujifilm.