Fujifilm to Acquire Large-Scale Biologics Manufacturing Site from Biogen in $890-Million Deal

Fujifilm announced on March 12, 2019 that it has agreed to acquire Biogen (Denmark) Manufacturing ApS, a large-scale biologics manufacturing site located in Hillerød near Copenhagen, Denmark, from Biogen for approximately $890 million in cash. The acquisition is expected to close around August 2019, subject to customary closing conditions.

Upon closing, Biogen Hillerød will become Fujifilm’s fourth biopharmaceutical contract development and manufacturing site. The existing 800-employee workforce at the site will be retained by Fujifilm. The acquisition boosts the company’s contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO), Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies, which will be responsible for the new site as well as all of Fujifilm’s biopharmaceutical CDMO sites.

Biogen Hillerød is equipped with 6 x 15,000-L bioreactors for the manufacture of cell-culture derived biologics. This facility will significantly expand Fujifilm’s capacity and provides the ability to scale up to large production volumes, complementing the current scale-out manufacturing model implemented under the company’s Saturn monoclonal antibody (mAb) services. Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies currently has large-scale production capacity at 20,000 L for microbial-derived biologics through its partnership with MSD, Brinny in Cork, Ireland.

“At Fujifilm, our goal has always been to bring new value to society, through innovation and the creation of new technologies, products, and services. We are pleased to contribute to the growing healthcare industry through this investment,” said Shigetaka Komori, chairman and CEO of Fujifilm, in a company press release. “This significant investment demonstrates our continued commitment to grow the Bio CDMO Business and become an industry leader by combining resources of Biogen Hillerød and Fujifilm.”

Fujifilm has aggressively invested in its Bio CDMO Business for increasing the production capacity and capability of process development at its Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies sites in the United States and United Kingdom. Fujifilm has expertise in the development and manufacture of a variety of biologics, including recombinant proteins, mAbs, viral vaccines, and gene therapies.

Source: Fujifilm