TOKYO, October 6, 2026 FUJIFILM Corporation announced it will install manufacturing equipment for linker-payloads ("ADC components") at the Hirono Plant (Hirono-machi, Futaba-gun, Fukushima Prefecture), which is operated by a manufacturing subsidiary of FUJIFILM Wako Pure Chemical Corporation, a Fujifilm Group company. The investment is aimed at expanding Fujifilm's contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) business in the field of antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), a next-generation biopharmaceutical modality. With the new equipment, FUJIFILM Wako Pure Chemical Corporation will provide contract process development and manufacturing services for "linker-payloads," ADC components consisting of a payload, such as an anticancer drug, and a linker that connects the payload to an antibody. The new manufacturing equipment is scheduled to become operational in 2028.
Through this investment, the Fujifilm Group will establish Japan's first*1 one-stop ADC CDMO services ranging from manufacturing of linker-payloads to antibody manufacturing, conjugation*2, and drug product manufacturing.
ADCs are pharmaceuticals that combine an antibody, which recognizes specific target cells such as cancer cells, with a "payload" such as an anticancer drug, via "linker". When the antibody bunds to a specific protein on the surface of a target cell, the ADC is taken into cell. The payload is then released from the linker and acts on the cell. By using the antibody to selectively deliver the payload to target cells, ADCs care expected to achieve both high therapeutic efficacy and reduced side effects, and their development as a next-generation biopharmaceutical modality is accelerating worldwide*3. However, ADC development and manufacturing involve multiple processes, including linker-payload manufacturing, antibody manufacturing, conjugation, and drug product manufacturing, each requiring advanced technologies and stringent quality control systems. As a result, many pharmaceutical companies work with different development and manufacturing partners for each process, creating challenges in technology transfer, quality control, and manufacturing management of the overall supply chain.