Japanese biotech company adding 680 additional jobs to under-construction Wake County plant

Fujifilm Diosynth will invest $1.2 billion and create an additional 680 jobs at its under-construction biomanufacturing facility in Holly Springs by 2031, the N.C. Department of Commerce announced Thursday morning.

• The Japanese contract drug manufacturer will receive $69.2 million in incentives from the state as well as Wake County and Holly Springs if it meets hiring and investment targets.

Why it matters: The announcement from Fujifilm represents a significant addition to the company's presence in Holly Springs — where in 2021 it pledged to build a $1.5 billion vaccine-and-drugs plant that would create more than 700 jobs.

• That facility is expected to be fully operational by next year.

Zoom in: The minimum average salary of the new Fujifilm positions will be $109,000, according to the Commerce Department. New jobs include engineers, scientists, manufacturing personnel, and other support positions.

• Fujifilm's investment will include adding two additional drug substance manufacturing buildings, a building with administrative space, and expansions of utilities, lab, and warehouse buildings currently under construction.
• The incentives agreement requires Fujifilm to retain 1,389 jobs in Wake County.
• Fujifilm also has a large office and manufacturing presence in Research Triangle Park.

The intrigue: The Commerce Department said Holly Springs was competing with locations in Singapore, Denmark and Ventura County, California, for the investment.

Driving the news: The announcement comes ahead of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's visit to Raleigh on Thursday and Friday — a trip planned to highlight the growing economic ties between North Carolina and Japan.

• The state's Economic Investment Committee approved a Job Development Investment Grant for the project Thursday morning.

State of play: Fujifilm's plant in southern Wake County is part of a wave of new biotech facilities opening in the Triangle area in recent years.

• Around 40,000 people in the Triangle worked in the life sciences industry as of 2022, a significant increase over the past decade, according to research from CBRE.
• From 2016 to 2023, lab and R&D space grew from 4.4 million square feet to 9.3 million square feet.
• Since 2018, nearly 30 life sciences companies, like Fujifilm Diosynth and Eli Lilly, have invested $8.9 billion in the region and pledged to create nearly 7,000 new jobs.

Editor's note: We've updated this story with details about Fujifilm's local investment.

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