COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS — Biotechnology company FUJIFILM Diosynth announced Tuesday that it will be constructing a $300 million expansion at the College Station location, set to be complete by the year 2024.
"This investment will expand our advanced therapies and vaccine manufacturing capacity," said FUJIFILM Diosynth - Texas COO Gerry Farrell. "It will make our Texas site the largest single-use CDMO campus in North America.”
The manufacturing campus will add on an additional 138,000 square feet, opening up space to host bio-reactors and purification equipment.
FUJIFILM's investment comes with a $1.5 million grant from Gov. Greg Abbott, considered a Texas Enterprise Fund Award.
“This also builds on a $120 million investment we announced in 2019, which is in the final stages of completion," Farrell added.
The expansion is set to open up 150 new jobs for the Aggieland area.
“The new jobs that are coming are averaging at about $80,000 per job," said Matt Prochaska, president of the Brazos Valley Economic Development Corporation. "So that's really high paying jobs, and jobs from entry level positions, all the way to middle management and upper management positions.”
Several local leaders addressed media at a press conference Tuesday morning, expressing their excitement for what FUJIFILM has been developing since its arrival in town seven years ago.
“This is a commitment beyond what any of us dreamed of back in 2014," said College Station mayor Karl Mooney. "FUJIFILM’S constant participation, not just in what it’s doing here locally, but what it’s doing now for the world, really sets the Brazos Valley area apart.”
FUJIFILM drew attention back in January when it announced the production of a COVID-19 vaccine candidate, Novavax. According to the Novavax website, that drug is still in its third phase of clinical trials.