With both companies on an upward trajectory, argenx and its manufacturing partner Fujifilm Biotechnologies are taking a logical next step by expanding their collaboration.
In addition to manufacturing drug substance for argenx’s autoimmune blockbuster Vyvgart at its facility in Hillerød, Denmark, Fujifilm will also make the product at its large-scale complex in Holly Springs, N.C. The CDMO will initiate production of Vyvgart at the plant in 2028.
Fujifilm's Holly Springs site is slated to become operational this year and has already secured contracting work from several large drugmakers.
Meanwhile, the CDMO giant is moving ahead with an expansion that's set to double the number of 20,000-liter mammalian cell culture bioreactors at the facility to 16.
Argenx will be the first tenant in the plant's expansion phase, according to a Sept. 18 release.
Sales are increasing rapidly for Vyvgart, which was approved for generalized myasthenia gravis (gMG) in 2021 and for chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) in 2024. The product generated revenue of $2.2 billion last year and is on track for a significant increase this year, as its sales reached $1.7 billion in the first half of 2025.
Besides the drug's approved uses, Vyvgart is under investigation as a potential treatment for other Immunoglobulin G (IgG) deficiency disorders.
Fujifilm’s business is growing as well, with several high-profile drugmakers signing up for space in Holly Springs, including Regeneron, with a $3 billion, 10-year arrangement, and Johnson & Johnson, with a $2 billion, 10-year deal, which was revealed last month.
Argenx and Fujifilm first linked up in 2022 in a deal to produce Vyvgart, or efgartigimod, in Denmark. They expanded their partnership in 2024 to include additional manufacturing services.
Deals are coming quickly for Fujifilm as the industry reacts to the threat of sector-specific tariffs on pharmaceutical imports under the second Trump administration.
While many companies are making huge investments to build their own manufacturing sites in the U.S., some are turning to CDMOs that have plants in the U.S.
“Our expanded partnership with Fujifilm Biotechnologies at its Holly Springs site adds to our existing U.S. manufacturing footprint and further strengthens our global supply chain,” Filip Borgions, the chief technology innovation officer at argenx, said in a release.
Fujifilm began building the $2 billion Holly Springs campus in 2021, billing it then as the largest end-to-end biologics production plant in the world, with the expectation to employ roughly 725 at the facility.
Then, in April of last year, Fujifilm upped its ante on the site, earmarking an additional $1.2 billion for its construction and increasing its expected headcount at the facility to 1,400 by 2031.