HOLLY SPRINGS, N.C. — A subsidiary of Japanese conglomerate Fujifilm Holdings Corp. said Thursday that it will open a massive biopharmaceutical manufacturing plant in central North Carolina in 2025, ultimately creating 725 new jobs.
Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies and government officials announced the overall $2 billion project in Holly Springs, just south of Raleigh, for what’s being billed as the largest end-to-end biopharmaceutical manufacturing facility in North America. The company manufactures drugs and vaccines for other pharmaceutical companies.
Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies, which has a campus in nearby Research Triangle Park and employs more than 600 people, chose the Wake County site over building the plant in Texas, according to the state Commerce Department. The company already has locations in College Station, Texas, the United Kingdom and Denmark.
“We are delighted to expand our footprint here in North Carolina as we fulfill our mission to help our customers accelerate development and supply of high-quality medicines to patients,” Fujifilm Holdings president Kenji Sukeno said in a news release from Gov. Roy Cooper’s office. Cooper held an in-person project announcement in Holly Springs.
Fujifilm could receive a maximum of $33.5 million in state grants and training as part of the deal, according to information presented at a meeting Thursday of state officials that approve economic incentive proposals. Almost $20 million of the package would be contingent on the company reaching job creation and investment thresholds. Local governments also have agreed to chip in tens of millions of dollars in additional incentives.
The new plant jobs would arrive between 2024 and 2028. The minimum average wage for the new positions, which would include engineers, scientists, manufacturing personnel, is almost $100,000, according to the Commerce Department.
