FUJIFILM Biotechnologies Teesside Expansion to Create High-Skilled Jobs in UK Biomanufacturing

FUJIFILM Biotechnologies, a world leading contract development and manufacturing organisation (CDMO) for biologics, vaccines, and advanced therapies, celebrated the grand opening of its expanded site in Teesside, UK,. The significantly expanded presence, funded through a total investment of approximately £400m from FUJIFILM Corporation, Japan, includes the opening of the largest single-use biopharmaceutical CDMO facility in the UK^[2], located at the existing FUJIFILM Biotechnologies site.

The UK expansion represents the newest addition to FUJIFILM Biotechnologies’ global manufacturing network and introduces 2,000 L and 5,000 L single-use bioreactors with a total capacity up to 19,000 L to provide small- and mid-scale antibody manufacturing, with the flexibility to expand to support customer programmes as needed. The 110,000 sq. ft. manufacturing facility will be operational in the first half of 2026.

“Over the past decade, Fujifilm has invested more than £5 billion globally to grow our CDMO business – demonstrating our steadfast commitment to increasing our production capacity and capabilities to meet the growing demand for innovative medicines and vaccines for patients around the globe,” said Toshihisa Iida, director, corporate vice president, general manager of Life Sciences Strategy Headquarters and Bio CDMO Division, FUJIFILM Corporation, and chairman, FUJIFILM Biotechnologies. “The opening of our UK expansion, will enable us to support our partners’ products from the process development stage to early clinical manufacturing – ranging from low-volume therapies for ultra-rare diseases to commercial biologics all from one site.”

“This site provides pharmaceutical and biotechnology partners with enhanced scalability, speed to market, and cross-site technology transfer, helping to ensure reliable medicine supply for patients in the UK and globally,” said Lars Petersen, president and chief executive officer, FUJIFILM Biotechnologies. “This represents the first small and mid-scale manufacturing site in our global kojoX ecosystem, which provides our partners with supply chain flexibility and agility. In leveraging kojoX across our sites, we are creating a framework where our partners can easily scale up and out from process development through clinical and commercial.”

“Thank you to our 960+ employees and community partners for their dedication in strengthening the UK life sciences community and cementing the North East as one of Britain’s – and Europe’s – leading biomanufacturing hubs. Through the FUJIFILM Biotechnologies’ academic partnerships with the University of Edinburgh, the University of Manchester, and the University of York, we are building talent in STEM and advanced manufacturing, supporting the life sciences ecosystem, and nurturing the next generation of Life Science specialists to make a difference,” said Jonathan Haigh, senior vice president, head of UK Site, FUJIFILM Biotechnologies.