RTP could be up for a $2B biotech expansion from firm helping make COVID vaccines

Fujifilm Diosynth, a Japanese contract drug manufacturer with a large presence in Research Triangle Park, will invest $2 billion into a new facility in the U.S. — and North Carolina could be the beneficiary of the investment.

Martin Meeson, the CEO of Fujifilm Diosynth, said in an interview with The News & Observer on Friday that the company wants to place the potential 600-job expansion near one of its existing facilities in the U.S.

That would be equal to the amount of workers Fujifilm Diosynth already has in the Triangle, said Meeson, who is based in the Triangle himself.

In fact, Fufjifilm Diosynth’s two largest existing facilities in the U.S. are in RTP and College Station, Texas.

Though, Meeson added, the company has operations in 23 different states.

“The initial phase of selection will be really to narrow down what’s the shortlist among those different sites and states,” he said. “And then we will work ... through a number of criteria” to pick the winner.

Meeson said that Fujifilm Diosynth will compare several factors to determine the location, including what incentives are available and the operating costs of each location.

“I really hope one of them comes out way ahead of the others because that makes life very simple,” he said. “But it’s a very scientific exercise. ... We will definitely be making sure we make a good decision.”

COVID-19 work

Fujifilm Diosynth made headlines this summer for signing a contract to manufacture Novavax’s COVID-19 vaccine.

The Novavax vaccine is part of the White House’s Operation Warp Speed plan to get a number of vaccine candidates up and running.

In July, President Donald Trump visited the company’s facilities in RTP to see where the vaccine was being made.

The Novavax vaccine is currently in Phase 3 trials — the last before the U.S. Food and Drug Administration gives its final approvals to a vaccine. Fujifilm Diosynth has already made millions of doses of its candidate.

“We are now making that (vaccine) ready to be available when that trial completes,” Meeson said.

Normally, the company wouldn’t make millions of doses before a vaccine has been approved, but the Operation Warp Speed money is allowing them to prepare in advance, Meeson said.

Since the company started working on the vaccine, Fujifilm Diosynth has added 100 new associates to handle the workload, he added.

2025 start date

The new facility, which would come online in 2025, would be tasked with manufacturing cell cultures and antibodies for new drugs and therapies.

When it is completed it would be able to spin out hundreds of thousands of doses every few weeks, allowing the company to partner with some of the largest drug developers in the world.

Fujifilm Diosynth wants the facility to be able to label and package the doses into vials, as well.

Meeson is hopeful that a decision will come soon.

“I’m driving them to get to a decision on the site by the end of the first calendar quarter,” he said. “Whilst I want a very robust process, I do not want to have a process that drags on.”

The Triangle is no stranger to being considered for a biotech expansion.

The region in recent years has nabbed expansions left and right thanks to its workforce, cluster of universities and aggressive recruitment.

In the past few years, the Triangle has landed a series of pharmaceutical manufacturing expansions, including one from Fujifilm Diosynth. The company broke ground last year on a facility in RTP that would add 100 jobs.

Other firms adding hundreds of jobs in recent years, include Merck, Grifols, Eli Lilly and a whole host of others.

When asked whether the Triangle could conceivably handle an expansion from Fujifilm Diosynth, Meeson said it is important that the state continues its trend of investing in biotech education.

“There is a vibrant community here, but you can’t just pull people in,” he said. “You need to have the universities and the education institutions ... focused on growing up those future employees and really making sure that those future employees really see biotech for the exciting career that it is.”

He said if there’s been any positives from COVID-19, it’s that the biotech industry has been able to show how important it is to their local communities.

Everyday, he said, 600 of your neighbors are coming into work on something that could potentially save lives from the pandemic.

He’s hopeful that spurs more investment and interest in the field.

“We want to continue ... to make sure that all the communities that we operate in — particularly North Carolina — continue to invest in that growth,” Meeson said. “They’ve done that very successfully ... over the last decade, and that’s why you see all these companies prepared to invest in the area.”

This story was produced with financial support from a coalition of partners led by Innovate Raleigh as part of an independent journalism fellowship program. The N&O maintains full editorial control of the work. Learn more; go to bit.ly/newsinnovate

This story was originally published January 8, 2021 at 6:09 PM.