Fujifilm Cellular Dynamics opens Madison iPSC manufacturing site as stem-cell science moves toward scale

FUJIFILM Cellular Dynamics opened a new headquarters and iPSC manufacturing facility in Madison on May 19, expanding the company’s capacity to produce human cells for drug discovery, toxicity testing, stem cell banking and cell therapy development. The 175,000-square-foot campus, part of a $200 million strategic investment announced in 2023, includes iPSC cGMP manufacturing, three cleanroom suites, process development laboratories and a center of excellence for gene editing, according to the company’s opening announcement. The facility is designed to scale from investigational drug manufacturing to commercial production.

FUJIFILM Cellular Dynamics expects the facility to quadruple the capacity for its research products and services manufacturing footprint. iPSCs can be expanded, engineered and differentiated into many disease-relevant human cell types. Those traits make them useful for disease modeling, drug screening, toxicity studies and cell therapy development. Regulatory guidance in both the United States and Europe has heightened interest in transitioning from animal testing to new approach methodologies, or NAMs, increasing demand for iPSC-derived cells that more accurately reproduce human biological functions.

“From a standard blood draw, we have the capability to develop stem cells into virtually any type of cell in the human body,” said Tom Hasegawa, president and CEO of FUJIFILM Cellular Dynamics, at the opening ceremony. “We produce billions of cells daily to ensure that our iPSC products are available in the quantity, quality, and reproducibility required for drug and cell therapy development. The iPSC lines are now vitally important for studying how drugs interact with human hearts, brains, livers, and our most recent addition, the gut line.”

The facility’s therapeutic context has expanded considerably in the past year. In 2025, a Kyoto University Hospital phase I/II trial of iPS-cell-derived dopaminergic progenitors in seven Parkinson’s disease patients reported that the cells survived, produced dopamine and formed no tumors. In March 2026, Sumitomo Pharma and RACTHERA announced conditional and time-limited approval in Japan for AMCHEPRY, an allogeneic iPS cell-derived product intended to improve motor symptoms in Parkinson’s patients with inadequate response to existing drug therapies.

Toshihisa Iida, director and corporate vice president of Fujifilm Corporation and general manager of its Life Sciences Strategy Headquarters and Bio CDMO Division, used the ceremony to connect the Madison site to Fujifilm’s broader corporate reinvention. The company’s film and photo business accounted for more than 70% of its profit at its peak around 2000, Iida said, before digital photography triggered what he called “not just a decline” but “a collapse.” Its longtime competitor, Kodak, filed Chapter 11 in 2012. Fujifilm instead pivoted into healthcare, life sciences and advanced materials, and in fiscal year 2025 posted record sales and profit in the company’s 92-year history.

That pivot now includes more than $10 billion invested in the bio CDMO business over the past 15 years, Iida said. He called the Madison facility “a platform to support innovation and to help our partners bring important medicines to patients” and pointed to iPSCs as a source of particular optimism.

“iPSCs have the potential to change medicine, from regenerative therapies to treatments that restore function and quality of life,” Iida said. “When patients recover, return to daily life, and regain independence, that is when smiles truly reappear.”

Fujifilm is also investing a billion dollars in life science facility growth over a span of a few years, Kenya Nakashima, president of FUJIFILM Americas, said at the event.

Wisconsin officials used the opening to emphasize the state’s biohealth economy. Gov. Tony Evers, who noted that he had recently found a box of Fuji film while cleaning out a drawer (“I’m not sure what to do with it, but I have it”), called the facility “a true Wisconsin success story.”

“It began more than 30 years ago in the laboratories of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where Professor James Thomson unlocked the incredible science of stem cells,” Evers said. “Thanks to his pioneering research and collaboration between our state’s public and private sectors, today we celebrate our state’s leadership in the fields of biohealth and biotechnology.”

Sam Rikkers, deputy secretary and COO of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, pointed out that the company originated as a university spinoff and has since become a leading division of one of the world’s largest biohealth companies. The state’s biohealth profile has gained federal backing as well: the U.S. Economic Development Administration designated the Wisconsin Biohealth Tech Hub in July 2024 with approximately $49 million to scale production and delivery of technologies for precision and predictive medicine.

Delara Motlagh, COO of FUJIFILM Cellular Dynamics, who emceed the ceremony, framed the opening around the workforce behind the science. The site is “a workplace for over 200 talented and dedicated people who work hard every day on today’s innovations that will enable tomorrow’s lifesaving therapies,” Motlagh said.

Grand View Research pegged the global stem cells market size at $15.10 billion in 2024 and projected it would USD $28.89 billion by 2030.