Fujifilm has tapped a new leader on its quest to deliver 200 billion yen ($1.4 billion) from its Bio CDMO business by March 2025.
Effective immediately, company veteran Lars Petersen has ascended to the throne as president and chief executive officer of Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies. Petersen, who most recently worked as chief operating officer of the CDMO’s site in Hillerød, Denmark and head of the company’s large-scale strategic business unit, is succeeding Martin Meeson, who has captained the ship at Fujifilm Diosynth since 2020.
Petersen is settling into the captain’s seat with more than 30 years of operational and leadership experience in the life sciences and biopharmaceutical arenas. During his recent stint as COO and head of Fujifilm Diosynth’s strategic business unit, he oversaw a $6.2 billion global expansion in both Hillerød and Holly Springs, North Carolina. Fujifilm also credits Petersen with helping drive the company’s climate strategy—part of Fujifilm’s broader sustainable value plan 2030.
Before joining Fujifilm Diosynth, Petersen had roles at big pharmas like Biogen, Novo Nordisk and Roche’s Genentech.
In his capacity as chief executive, Petersen will help steer Fujfilm Diosynth toward a revenue goal of 200 billion yen ($1.4 billion) in annual sales by the fiscal year ending in March 2025. Beyond fiscal year 2026, Fujifilm is angling to chart a 20% annual growth rate at its Bio CDMO business. It aims to get there thanks to new process capabilities, in-house capacity, inflation and increasing global demand for large-scale mammalian production capacity.
Aside from Petersen’s promotion, Fujifilm Diosynth’s manufacturing compatriot Emergent BioSolutions also had a changing of the guard this week. Emergent’s chief executive Robert Kramer announced his retirement on Tuesday, effective immediately. The long-time leader of the Maryland-based CDMO has stepped down from all his posts and will be replaced as CEO on an interim basis by Haywood Miller, the managing director of Berkeley Research Group, who has served as an adviser to the company over the last several months.