Fujifilm: Meeting Surging Demand for Advanced Solutions

In an era defined by digital transformation, two industries stand at the forefront of technological advancement: semiconductors and biopharmaceuticals. Both require unprecedented precision, innovative manufacturing approaches and the ability to scale rapidly in response to global demand. 

Fujifilm, drawing on its legacy in photographic film manufacturing, has positioned itself as a critical player in both sectors, leveraging its expertise in materials chemistry and zero-defect manufacturing to address the complex challenges facing these industries.

The convergence of these two fields might seem unlikely at first glance, yet they share fundamental requirements: extreme precision, uncompromising quality control and the ability to work with highly sensitive materials at microscopic scales. As global demand for both advanced chips and life-saving medicines surges, Fujifilm's dual expertise positions it uniquely to serve as a critical enabler of progress in both domains.

The semiconductor imperative

The semiconductor industry faces mounting pressure to deliver ever-smaller, more powerful chips to support emerging technologies. From 5G and 6G communications to autonomous vehicles, artificial intelligence and increased automation, the appetite for advanced semiconductors continues to grow exponentially. 

The proliferation of connected devices, edge computing and data centres further amplifies this demand, while geopolitical tensions have highlighted the strategic importance of semiconductor manufacturing capability.

Hans Vloeberghs, President & Managing Director of Fujifilm Electronic Materials Europe, explains: "With demands for high-speed, high-capacity communications powered by 5G/6G, the rise of autonomous driving and EVs, increased automation and AI integration, semiconductor demand is projected to grow significantly. 

“To meet these demands, the industry must focus on scaling down device dimensions, introducing innovative device architectures and optimising material performance."

The challenge extends beyond simply making chips smaller. As devices become more complex, multiple components must be integrated into single semiconductor packages, requiring advances in device packaging alongside improvements in the chips themselves. This complexity demands new chemical formulations of exceptional purity, an area where Fujifilm's materials expertise proves invaluable. 

Hans emphasises this critical need: "As the industry evolves, there is an urgent need for new, high-purity chemical formulations, an area where Fujifilm is well-positioned to respond."

A comprehensive materials solution

What distinguishes Fujifilm in the semiconductor materials market is its breadth of offering. Rather than specialising in a single aspect of chip production, the company provides solutions across the entire manufacturing process, from initial wafer processing through to final post-processing steps. This comprehensive approach allows semiconductor manufacturers to work with a single trusted partner throughout their production cycle, streamlining supply chains and ensuring consistent quality across all material inputs.

Hans outlines this strategic advantage: "Fujifilm Electronic Materials differentiates itself by offering a comprehensive one-stop solution with a diverse product range, including photoresists, photolithography-related materials, CMP slurries, post-CMP cleaners, thin-film chemicals, polyimides and high-purity process chemicals. Our WAVE CONTROL MOSAIC line includes colour filter materials designed for image sensors."

This comprehensive approach extends to supply chain strategy as well. Fujifilm operates on a principle of local production for local consumption, investing heavily in facilities across Europe – including Belgium, France, Italy and the UK – to support regional semiconductor manufacturers while minimising environmental impact. This localised approach not only reduces the carbon footprint associated with global shipping but also provides customers with responsive, proximate technical support and ensures supply chain resilience in an increasingly uncertain geopolitical landscape.

Pushing the boundaries with EUV

One of the most significant technical challenges in semiconductor manufacturing involves extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography – essential for creating the smallest circuit patterns on chips. 

EUV technology uses light with wavelengths of just 13.5 nanometres – much shorter than the deep ultraviolet light used in previous generations – enabling the production of features measuring just a few nanometres across. However, working at such scales presents extraordinary materials challenges, requiring photoresists and developers with unprecedented performance characteristics.

Fujifilm has pioneered innovations in this space, developing the first negative tone imaging (NTI) process for semiconductor miniaturisation and subsequently enhancing it with negative-tone EUV resist and compatible developers. 

Hans explains: "EUV technology is essential for scaling down device dimensions in semiconductors. We are further enhancing this process by providing negative-tone EUV resist and a compatible EUV developer, allowing for advanced circuit pattern formation."

The company's innovation extends to other critical manufacturing steps as well. As semiconductor devices incorporate increasing numbers of layers – sometimes exceeding 100 individual layers in advanced memory chips – chemical mechanical planarisation (CMP), a process for smoothing surfaces between layers, becomes more critical. 

Hans says: "The growth in the semiconductor industry, coupled with an increasing number of device layers, has led to more chemical mechanical planarisation (CMP) steps being performed. Consequently, the demand for effective post-CMP cleaning solutions has risen significantly. Fujifilm is at the forefront of this trend, developing innovative cleaning solutions that enhance the efficiency and efficacy of post-CMP processes."

Biopharmaceutical manufacturing: lessons from the pandemic

If the semiconductor industry faces pressure from technological advancement, the biopharmaceutical sector confronts challenges of a different magnitude – those of life and death. 

The COVID-19 pandemic exposed critical vulnerabilities in global pharmaceutical supply chains, revealing the urgent need for more resilient manufacturing strategies. The race to develop and deploy vaccines at unprecedented speed highlighted both the potential and the limitations of existing biopharmaceutical manufacturing infrastructure.

John Stewart, SVP Global Process Development at Fujifilm Biotechnologies, reflects on these lessons: "The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the critical need for resilient and adaptable manufacturing strategies in the biopharmaceutical industry. 

“Key learnings include the importance of domestic onshoring, robust supply chains and the ability to rapidly scale up production in response to emerging health crises."

These vulnerabilities, now heightened by geopolitical uncertainty, require a fundamental rethinking of how medicines are manufactured and distributed. 

Contract development and manufacturing organisations (CDMOs) have emerged as crucial partners in building supply chain resilience, allowing biopharmaceutical companies to focus on drug discovery and development while outsourcing the complex challenge of large-scale manufacturing. 

John explains: "These vulnerabilities in biopharmaceutical manufacturing, now heightened by geopolitical uncertainty, require a new approach to ensure continuity of supply for medicines. CDMOs can play a critical role in ensuring supply chain resilience and Fujifilm Biotechnologies is setting a new standard."

Building biopharma’s TSMC

John articulates an ambitious vision for Fujifilm's role in biopharmaceutical manufacturing, drawing a parallel to the semiconductor industry's most successful contract manufacturer.

“We are building the industry's largest interconnected modular network of biomanufacturing facilities, revolutionising how complex medicines are developed and produced at scale,” he says. 

“We are striving to be the TSMC of the biopharmaceutical industry, with trust and our partnering approach as the foundation."

This vision manifests in kojoX, Fujifilm's groundbreaking operational philosophy. Unlike traditional pharmaceutical manufacturing, where each facility operates independently with unique equipment and processes, kojoX standardises equipment, processes and procedures across all Fujifilm sites. 

This modular approach ensures that drug manufacturing can seamlessly transfer between facilities in different locations, providing unprecedented supply chain flexibility. 

John elaborates: "This, coupled with our kojoX operational philosophy – a first-of-its-kind modular approach with standardised equipment, processes and procedures across our sites – ensures supply chain resilience. 

“This fully-integrated approach offers significant advantages for our partners, including faster timelines, smoother tech transfers and, most importantly, the trust that comes from collaborating with the same production partner throughout the lifecycle of a drug.”

The scale of Fujifilm's investment underscores its commitment to this vision. The company has invested more than US$3.7bn in Fujifilm Biotechnologies to expand its CDMO capabilities and footprint in the US, with at least US$3.2bn specifically devoted to North Carolina operations. 

The Holly Springs facility, with phase one operations coming online by the end of this year, spans nearly one million square feet and features eight 20,000-litre mammalian cell culture bioreactors for bulk drug substance production, with drug product capabilities to follow in mid-2026 and finished good capabilities shortly thereafter. A second phase expansion, planned for completion in early 2028, will add another eight 20,000-litre bioreactors, further expanding capacity to meet growing demand.

Addressing cell and gene therapy challenges

The promise of personalised medicine through cell and gene therapy represents one of the most exciting frontiers in healthcare, offering potential cures for previously untreatable genetic disorders and cancers. 

Yet this field faces significant hurdles, particularly around manufacturing scalability and cost. Unlike traditional small-molecule drugs or even conventional biologics, cell and gene therapies often require individualised manufacturing processes, dramatically increasing complexity and expense.

John acknowledges the current challenges: "While the promise of gene and cell therapy remains strong, the industry has been impacted by the short-term challenge of reduced venture capital investment in early-stage therapies. Many of these programmes in the early phase pipeline have been paused due to the heavy cost burdens associated with manufacturing and running multiple, parallel clinical trials."

This funding environment has prompted a strategic shift in the industry, with companies moving away from small-volume orphan disease indications towards larger clinical indications that can achieve commercial viability more quickly. 

"As such,” John goes on, “cell and gene therapy companies are shifting their focus away from smaller volumes for orphan disease indications, for example, to larger clinical indications."

Despite these headwinds, Fujifilm continues investing in cell and gene therapy manufacturing capacity, taking a long-term view of the field's potential. The company recently completed an expansion of its cell therapy manufacturing facility in Thousand Oaks, California, adding two new independent allogeneic cell therapy production suites and significantly increasing cleanroom capacity for new client programmes.

The common thread: zero-defect manufacturing

What connects Fujifilm's seemingly disparate ventures into semiconductors and biopharmaceuticals is a shared manufacturing philosophy rooted in the company's origins in photographic film production. 

For decades, Fujifilm perfected the art of creating colour film, a product requiring extraordinary precision in layering over 100 different chemical compounds across 20 photosensitive layers within a thickness of just 20 microns – less than a quarter the width of a human hair.

John explains the connection: "The common thread here at Fujifilm is our zero-defect manufacturing philosophy, which was borne from our legacy in manufacturing colour film, which requires precisely arranging over 100 types of compounds across 20 photosensitive layers in a thickness measuring just 20 microns. 

“Manufacturing both semiconductor materials and biopharmaceuticals also requires high precision with highly sensitive materials. Our commitment to manufacturing and uncompromised quality permeates throughout our organisation."

This legacy of precision manufacturing translates directly to both industries. Semiconductor materials require extreme purity and exact specifications, while biopharmaceuticals demand consistently reproducible processes with no room for contamination or variation. Both fields deal with highly sensitive materials where even minute imperfections can render products unusable or, in the case of medicines, potentially dangerous.

Building trust through people

Beyond technology and infrastructure, Fujifilm recognises that success in these demanding industries ultimately depends on people. The company's facilities require highly skilled workers capable of operating sophisticated equipment, maintaining stringent quality standards and continuously improving processes. 

Attracting and retaining such talent in a competitive market requires more than competitive compensation – it demands a compelling organisational culture.

John adds: "At Fujifilm Biotechnologies, trust is the foundation of everything we do and an important part of our 9 People Fundamentals – the guiding principles for how we show up to work, how we interact and how we lead as a people-first organisation. 

“We believe that, as we put people first in a trust-centred organisation, collaboration can thrive. And with this trust, our employees feel empowered, take ownership and exceed expectations."

This commitment to trust extends beyond internal culture to partnerships with educational 

institutions, ensuring a pipeline of skilled workers for the future. Fujifilm collaborates directly with local universities and trade schools in regions where it operates, sometimes working on learning objectives and content while providing scholarships and financial support.

Meeting the moment

As digital transformation accelerates across industries, the demands on semiconductor and biopharmaceutical manufacturing will only intensify. Artificial intelligence applications alone are projected to require exponentially more computing power, while an ageing global population will increase demand for sophisticated biologics and personalised therapies.

Fujifilm's dual focus on these sectors, backed by substantial investment and decades of materials expertise, positions the company to play a crucial role in addressing these challenges. 

Whether enabling the next generation of artificial intelligence through advanced semiconductor materials or ensuring patients worldwide have access to life-saving biologics through resilient manufacturing networks, Fujifilm is translating its legacy of precision into solutions for the industries shaping our future.