Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies confirmed a restructure that will result in the layoff of 240 employees.
The announcement impacts employees at the company's Teesside sites in the U.K. and sites in College Station, TX; Raleigh, NC; and Watertown, MA, according to an April 16 business update. The restructuring aligns with strategic direction and should strengthen the company for better operational and financial performance, according to the update.
A subsidiary of Fujifilm Corporation, Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies is a contract development and manufacturing organization involved in the development and manufacture of biologics, vaccines, cell and gene therapies, and oncolytic viruses. The company's interests in the U.S. include building a new $2 billion large-scale cell culture manufacturing facility in Holly Springs, NC. The facility is expected to be operational by spring 2025 and bring 725 new jobs to the area by the end of 2028, according to the company.
In 2021, Fujifilm announced that the new clean-energy biopharmaceutical manufacturing facility in North Carolina would offer large-scale cell culture manufacturing of bulk drug substance production with eight 20,000-L bioreactors, with the potential to expand and add a further 24 20,000-L bioreactors based on market demand. In addition, the new facility would provide commercial-scale automated fill-finish and assembly, packaging, and labeling services.