The world has seen rapid growth in China's biopharmaceutical, vaccine, and cell and gene therapy markets. The speed of approval of biosimilar drugs and investment by the Chinese government to make more affordable drugs available to its people is accelerating that growth, Fujifilm said. Accordingly, the market for cell culture media in China is expected to grow at an annual rate of about 20%, according to the firm.

The center will incorporate advanced cell culture automation and analysis into process and media development to enable highly accurate evaluation and identification of optimal upstream cell culture processes. Furthermore, it will provide resources and expertise for optimized cell culture media and associated workflows to achieve the quantity and product quality attributes necessary to support commercial production of new drugs, Fujifilm added.

The new center joins other Fujifilm facilities that are in the U.S. and Japan. Construction of the center has begun and is expected to be completed by March 2022.