Boost for UK life science sector with new £100 million microbial fermentation facility

Japanese contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies has hosted a celebration for the opening of its microbial fermentation manufacturing facility in Billingham, UK.

This new facility triples existing microbial production throughput with the addition of a new production line equipped with 2 X 4000 L fermenters, primary separations suite and a modular purification suite with an investment over £100 million ($130 million).

This expansion was customized, in part, to support a large, unnamed, pharmaceutical partner with a highly specialized ophthalmic therapeutic for wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Wet AMD is an eye disorder that causes blurred vision in the central vision. AMD is the biggest cause of sight loss in the UK, affecting more than 700,000 people, with 39,800 patients developing wet AMD each year[.