Dallas-based Jacobs recently secured a pivotal role in a major pharmaceutical project aimed at significantly improving global medical supply chains.
Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies, a biologics, vaccines and therapeutics manufacturing organization, selected Jacobs to support the delivery of a $1.2 billion expansion of its large scale. cell culture contract manufacturing site in Holly Springs, North Carolina, according to a news release.
The project, which builds on the initial phase of the site that began in 2021, uses Jacobs to provide engineering, procurement and construction management services for the expansion. Development has as its objective increase manufacturing capacity with the addition of eight new 20,000-liter cell culture bioreactors and about 400,000 square feet of manufacturing space. With the first phase completed in 2025, Jacobs said further expansion will be completed in 2028.
Jacobs senior vice president Koti Vadlamudi said the expansion leverages “digital innovation and modular design so that medicines and therapies are delivered with quality, flexibility, speed and consistency, now at an even greater scale,” according to a press release.
The project will significantly increase the biotechnological therapeutics and drug manufacturing capacity of the biotech research company. The facility will also provide end-to-end services including drug substance manufacturing, automated fill-finish and assembly, packaging and labeling services for global biopharmaceutical customers, said Kenneth Bilenberg, chief operating officer of Fujifilm and Executive Vice President of Operations.
Upon completion, the Holly Springs site will be one of the largest end-to-end cell culture contract manufacturing facilities in North America, according to Fujifilm. The $1.2 billion investment is part of Fujifilm’s broader investment $3.2 billion commitment to the site.
