Fujifilm to open new RTP facility, promising 100-plus jobs

The Japanese conglomerate Fujifilm announced Tuesday plans to open a $188 million manufacturing facility in Research Triangle Park within the next three years. The campus will cover 250,000 square feet and create more than 100 jobs, the company says.

While Fujifilm is still perhaps best known for making cameras, its future RTP site will be part of the company’s expansion into health care. The facility will produce cell culture media solutions which biopharmaceutical firms use when producing vaccines and other drugs.

Construction on the 64-acre site is expected to begin in the spring, with operations beginning in 2025. The facility will be operated by FUJIFILM Irvine Scientific, a subsidiary of the parent conglomerate. This won’t be the first Fujifilm subsidiary in the region either — FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies already operates in Morrisville and announced last year it would build a 2 million-square-foot cell culture production plant in Holly Springs.

The area’s high concentration of life science businesses and research made it an ideal location for another Fujifilm facility, both company and local leaders said.

“We’re proud that FUJIFILM Irvine Scientific is the latest company to call the Research Triangle Park home, bringing with it many new job opportunities,” said Wake County Board of Commissioners Chair Sig Hutchinson, in a statement Tuesday. “Like many other global businesses, Fujifilm recognizes the value our region offers life sciences companies by providing top talent, easy access to transportation, and a quality of life that is second to none.”

At 7,000 acres, Research Triangle Park is the world’s largest research park. It sits mostly in Durham County but also stretches into Wake.

RTP was created in the 1950s in an attempt to shift the state’s stagnant economy away from agriculture and textiles and toward emerging technologies. Fujifilm will join more than 400 national labs and companies in RTP — including IBM, Lenovo, Fidelity, GlaxoSmithKline and, soon, Apple.

Fujifilm, which received state tax incentives for its massive Holly Springs site, will not be given additional financial incentives from the state for this RTP facility.

This story was produced with financial support from a coalition of partners led by Innovate Raleigh as part of an independent journalism fellowship program. The N&O maintains full editorial control of the work.

Open Source

Do you enjoy Triangle tech news? Subscribe to Open Source, The News & Observer's weekly technology newsletter and look for it in your inbox every Friday morning. Sign up here.