Fujifilm Completes Acquisition of a Dedicated Cell Therapy Manufacturing Facility from Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc.

TOKYO, April 5, 2022 - FUJIFILM Corporation (President and CEO, Representative Director: Teiichi Goto) today announced that it has completed the acquisition of a dedicated cell therapy manufacturing facility from Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATRA) for USD 100 million. The facility located in Thousand Oaks, California, will be operated as part of FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies’ global network, which is a subsidiary of FUJIFILM Corporation, and a world-leading contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO).

The 90,000 sq. ft. site is readily expandable to add capacity and has the flexibility to produce both clinical and commercial cell therapies including allogeneic T-cell and CAR T immunotherapies. FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies will retain 134 employees in manufacturing and quality positions at the site.

As part of a long-term manufacturing and services agreement, FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies will support the production of Atara’s promising clinical and commercial-stage allogeneic cell therapies at the site, including tabelecleucel (tab-cel^®), currently in phase 3 clinical development and under review to support registration in Europe, for the treatment of Epstein-Barr virus positive post-transplant lymphoproliferative disease (EBV+PTLD). 

“FUJIFILM Corporation has invested over USD 5.5 billion to grow the Bio CDMO business unit in order to provide our customers with long-term support across a full-range of modalities, and manufacturing scales,” said Takatoshi Ishikawa, senior executive vice president, general manager Bio CDMO Division, FUJIFILM Corporation. “With the addition of the dedicated site in California, Fujifilm continues to build for the future to meet the growing need of advanced therapies globally.” 

“We are excited to welcome 134 new team members to the FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies family today with the acquisition of the dedicated cell therapy manufacturing facility. Growing our world-class talent and knowledge in manufacturing of advanced therapies is vital to our continued success in supporting our partners in advancing tomorrow’s medicines,” added Martin Meeson, chief executive officer, FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies. “With the new site’s talent, strategic location on the West Coast, and potential for future capacity growth, we are confident that we will help our partners deliver T cell and CAR-T therapies to offer patients hope.”

The facility is the newest addition to FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies’ global portfolio of manufacturing sites which include facilities in College Station, Texas, USA, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA, Teesside, UK, and Hillerød, Denmark.

FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies, a subsidiary of FUJIFILM Corporation, is a world-leading contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) with experience in the development and manufacture of biologics, vaccines and advanced therapies. FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies has existing locations in Teesside, UK, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA, College Station, Texas, USA and Hillerød, Denmark, the company is currently building new facilities in Watertown, Massachusetts, USA, and Holly Springs, North Carolina, USA. 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. Mitsubishi Corporation is a 20% shareholder of FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies’ UK, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, Watertown, Massachusetts and College Station, Texas sites. For more information, go to: www.fujifilmdiosynth.com.

FUJIFILM Corporation is an operating company of FUJIFILM Holdings Corporation. 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, highly functional materials, document solutions and imaging 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, 2021, the company had global revenues of $21 billion, at an exchange rate of 106 yen to the dollar. Fujifilm is committed to responsible environmental stewardship and good corporate citizenship. For more information, please visit: https://holdings.fujifilm.com/en.

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