Fujifilm Expands NC State Partnership

Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies, a contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) for biologics, viral vaccines, and viral vectors, is growing its strategic partnership with North Carolina State University at the future Holly Springs, NC cell culture biomanufacturing site.

The strategic partnership will focus areas of research and facility design on sustainability—the CDMO’s goal is to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2030 for its new $2 billion site. The new agreement will also create opportunities for the organizations to develop new bioprocess development techniques using machine learning, artificial intelligence, and analytical methods.

With the Holly Springs site set to open by 2025, landscape architecture and environmental planning experts at NC State are collaborating with Fujifilm on sustainable site development plans to achieve carbon neutrality. The future site design targets 100% clean energy utilization, implementation of cutting-edge waste disposal and recycling, among other sustainability plan. The first project under the new agreement is expected to begin by the end of 2022.

“We’ve built a strong relationship with NC State that started well before our 2021 announcement to build North America’s largest end-to-end cell culture biomanufacturing facility in Holly Springs, and [it] has already resulted in numerous improvements to achieve a facility design with sustainability at its core,” says Kenneth Bilenberg, vice president and Holly Springs site lead for FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies. “The research agreement will enable increased collaborations with the university, and NC State has the expertise to help reach our ambitious goals for the new site, not only with regard to sustainability and environmental stewardship, but also as we evaluate future greenway development and manufacturing efficiency projects.”

Read more about the partnership here.