FUJIFILM Teams Up with Bill Gates’ Therapeutics Accelerator Foundation to Battle COVID-19
Fujifilm continues to work on solutions for the COVID-19 pandemic. This time they announced they have teamed up with “COVID-19 Therapeutics Accelerator to reserve manufacturing capacity and provide technical expertise to deliver future COVID-19 therapies“.
The Therapeutics Accelerator is an initiative launched by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to speed-up the response to the global pandemic.
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FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies teams with COVID-19 Therapeutics Accelerator to reserve manufacturing capacity and provide technical expertise to deliver future COVID-19 therapies
2020-04-30
HILLERØD, Denmark, April 30, 2020 – FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies, a world leading biologics-Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO), today announced that it will reserve manufacturing capacity for a future COVID-19 therapy for the COVID-19 Therapeutics Accelerator. The Therapeutics Accelerator is an initiative launched by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Wellcome, and Mastercard to speed-up the response to the global pandemic.
Currently, there are no established therapies for the treatment of COVID-19. To help address the global crisis, the Therapeutics Accelerator is working to accelerate drug development and will identify a promising COVID-19 therapeutic candidate based on efficacy and safety data demonstrated in clinical trials.
With the ultimate goal of providing access to effective treatment options, this agreement will allocate manufacturing capacity in FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies’ large scale biologics production facility in Hillerød, Denmark. The company will work with a selected pharmaceutical partner in supporting the swift manufacture and dedicated supply for patients with COVID-19 in lower-income countries. Under the agreement, production volumes are secured for 2021 with options for a number of years thereafter.
“COVID-19 has had a profound impact on the global community. With the goal of enhancing society through innovation, FUJIFILM Corporation and the various Fujifilm businesses globally are committed to support the fight against COVID-19,” said Martin Meeson, chief executive officer at FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies. “We are honored that FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies is able to use its resources to support COVID-19 Therapeutics Accelerator partners in their mission to improve health.”
FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies’ Hillerød cGMP facility is equipped with 6 x 20,000L bioreactors for the manufacture of cell culture derived biologics for clinical and commercial use. The agreement also anticipates that FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies will support drug product and assembly, label and packaging requirements.
“Humanity is facing one of its most challenging times in recent history. Resolution calls for a global effort in collaboration between public, private and charitable entities,” said Andy Fenny, chief business officer, FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies. “This partnership allows Fujifilm to deploy its leading technical expertise and significant production capacity to have a meaningful impact in the fight against this pandemic.”
About Fujifilm
FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies an industry-leading Biologics Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO) with locations in Teesside, UK, RTP, North Carolina, College Station, Texas and Hillerød, Denmark. FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies has over thirty years of experience in the development and manufacturing of recombinant proteins, vaccines, monoclonal antibodies, among other large molecules, viral products and medical countermeasures expressed in a wide array of microbial, mammalian, and host/virus systems. The company offers a comprehensive list of services from cell line development using its proprietary pAVEway™ microbial and Apollo™X cell line systems to process development, analytical development, clinical and FDA-approved commercial manufacturing. FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies is a partnership between FUJIFILM Corporation and Mitsubishi Corporation. For more information, go to: www.fujifilmdiosynth.com
FUJIFILM Holdings Corporation, Tokyo, Japan, brings cutting edge solutions to a broad range of global industries by leveraging its depth of knowledge and fundamental technologies developed in its relentless pursuit of innovation. Its proprietary core technologies contribute to the various fields including healthcare, graphic systems, highly functional materials, optical devices, digital imaging and document products. These products and services are based on its extensive portfolio of chemical, mechanical, optical, electronic and imaging technologies. For the year ended March 31, 2019, the company had global revenues of $22 billion, at an exchange rate of 111 yen to the dollar. Fujifilm is committed to responsible environmental stewardship and good corporate citizenship. For more information, please visit: www.fujifilmholdings.com.
About the COVID-19 Therapeutics Accelerator
The Therapeutics Accelerator is an initiative launched by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Wellcome, and Mastercard to speed-up the response to the COVID-19 epidemic by identifying, assessing, developing, and scaling up treatments. The Accelerator donors, an array of philanthropic, government and private sector individuals and organizations, are committed to equitable access, including making products available and affordable in low-resource settings. The COVID-19 Therapeutics Accelerator will play a catalytic role by accelerating and evaluating new and repurposed drugs and biologics to treat patients with COVID-19 in the immediate term, and other viral pathogens in the longer-term. For more information, visit www.therapeuticsaccelerator.org