Fujifilm Cellular Dynamics plans to open a new, 140,000-square-foot headquarters facility in Madison, Wis., increasing its workforce from about 200 employees currently to 400 by 2030, reports the Wisconsin State Journal.
“Now is the time for Fujifilm Cellular Dynamics to branch out and grow our capabilities,” CEO Tomoyuki Hasegawa said recently at a groundbreaking event at the new site. The company was founded 18 years ago by UW-Madison stem cell pioneer James Thomson.
Fujifilm Cellular Dynamics makes human induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPS cells, for disease research, drug testing and development of potential cell therapies for conditions such as Parkinson’s disease, heart disease, cancer and eye disorders, reports the WSJ.
Thomson, who retired from UW-Madison in July, gained international attention in 1998 by becoming the first scientist to grow human embryonic stem cells outside of the body. In 2007, he discovered iPS cells, skin or blood cells reprogrammed back to the embryonic state, at the same time as Japanese researcher Shinya Yamanaka did, the publication reports.
Both types of stem cells can be coaxed in the lab to become almost any cell type in the body, offering the potential for regenerative medicine. By not requiring the destruction of embryos, iPS cells resolved many ethical and political conflicts surrounding the use of embryonic stem cells.
The new facility will have more cleanroom commercial manufacturing space, with specially filtered air, air-lock entry doors and other specifications to meet the Food and Drug Administration’s strict standards for Good Manufacturing Practice, or GMP. FCDI will keep the GMP facility on Science Drive, Hasegawa said.