FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies U.S.A., Inc. (FDB), a cGMP Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization supporting the development and manufacture of biologics, vaccines and gene therapies, began the $35 million capacity expansion of its Flexible Biomanufacturing Facility at its College Station, TX location. The facility is designed to support late phase and commercial manufacturing of gene therapies and other advanced therapies. The Flexible Biomanufacturing Facility complements the early phase manufacturing capabilities provided by the company from the National Centre for Therapeutic Manufacture also located in College Station.
 
The expansion includes the addition of cell culture and high throughput manufacturing suites. The expanded facility will house multiple 500L and 2000L bioreactors to support the production of gene therapy products that have high production demands. The expansion is expected to be complete by Fall 2020.
 
“The capacity increase to our Flexible Manufacturing Facility will allow us to support the growing demand for commercial-ready, high volume production of gene therapy products, many of which are in development to treat rare diseases, which makes this announcement even more significant, as today we honor rare disease patients on Rare Disease Day,” said Gerry Farrell, chief operating officer, FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies, Texas.