FUJIFILM Biotechnologies Appoints Maja Pedersen as President to Lead Next Phase of Global Growth and Operational Excellence
FUJIFILM Biotechnologies has announced a significant leadership transition designed to support the company’s continued expansion and long-term strategic growth. The global contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) has appointed Maja Pedersen as President, effective immediately, while she continues to serve in her existing role as Chief Operating Officer (COO). The appointment marks the beginning of a planned leadership succession as Lars Petersen steps down from his position as President and Chief Executive Officer to become Strategic Advisor through September 30, 2026.
The leadership evolution reflects FUJIFILM Biotechnologies’ commitment to maintaining business continuity while strengthening operational excellence, manufacturing capabilities, customer partnerships, and quality standards as the company enters its next stage of development. Company leadership emphasized that its long-term business strategy, customer commitments, ongoing investments, and manufacturing operations will continue without interruption.
Planned Leadership Transition Supports Future Growth
The appointment of Maja Pedersen follows a carefully planned succession process aimed at ensuring stable leadership while positioning FUJIFILM Biotechnologies for continued global expansion. Having already played a central role in the company’s operational transformation, Pedersen is expected to build upon the strategic foundation established during Lars Petersen’s leadership.
Under the transition plan, Petersen will remain closely involved with the organization as Strategic Advisor until September 30, 2026. His advisory role will provide continuity during the leadership handover while enabling the company to benefit from his extensive industry expertise and institutional knowledge.
The announcement underscores that the succession is not associated with any change in strategic direction. Instead, it represents the next step in executing the company’s long-term vision while shifting greater emphasis toward operational execution, manufacturing excellence, customer delivery, and quality performance.
Lars Petersen Leaves a Strong Legacy
During his tenure as President and CEO, Lars Petersen led one of the most transformative periods in FUJIFILM Biotechnologies’ history. Over several years, he guided the organization through substantial expansion under its “Partners for Life” strategy, significantly strengthening the company’s global position within the rapidly growing CDMO market.
One of Petersen’s most notable achievements was overseeing the development of the company’s innovative kojoX global manufacturing operating system. The platform was created to harmonize manufacturing practices across FUJIFILM Biotechnologies’ worldwide production network, enabling standardized operations while improving efficiency, scalability, product quality, and supply chain resilience.
His leadership also helped expand the company’s international manufacturing footprint, enabling FUJIFILM Biotechnologies to better serve pharmaceutical and biotechnology customers across multiple regions.
As demand for biologics manufacturing has continued to grow worldwide, Petersen positioned the organization as one of the industry’s leading contract development and manufacturing partners, capable of supporting clients from early development through commercial production.
Reflecting on his time as CEO, Petersen described his leadership journey as both professionally rewarding and transformational.
He expressed confidence that the organization has built a strong operational and strategic foundation and believes the company is well positioned to move into its next chapter under Pedersen’s leadership. Petersen also reaffirmed his commitment to supporting the transition in his role as Strategic Advisor over the coming year.
Maja Pedersen Brings Extensive Industry Experience
Maja Pedersen assumes the presidency with more than two decades of leadership experience spanning biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, quality management, manufacturing, and regulatory affairs.
Her appointment comes after serving as Chief Operating Officer since 2025, where she has been responsible for overseeing several of the organization’s most critical business functions. These include global manufacturing operations, site management, supply chain activities, quality systems, process development, and Manufacturing Science and Technology (MSAT).
Her broad operational responsibilities have given her comprehensive oversight of FUJIFILM Biotechnologies’ worldwide manufacturing network and positioned her to lead the organization as it continues expanding its capabilities.
Pedersen initially rejoined FUJIFILM Biotechnologies in 2023 as Chief Quality Officer after spending time at Biogen, where she served as Global Head of External Manufacturing.
During her tenure at Biogen, she managed the company’s worldwide contract manufacturing organization (CDMO) network, overseeing strategic manufacturing partnerships while ensuring consistent product quality and regulatory compliance across multiple external production facilities.
Earlier in her career, Pedersen held numerous senior leadership roles focused on quality assurance, quality control, regulatory affairs, and manufacturing operations. These experiences have provided her with deep expertise across virtually every aspect of biopharmaceutical manufacturing and product development.
Her background combines technical knowledge, operational leadership, and strategic management—qualities considered increasingly important as biologics manufacturing becomes more complex and globally interconnected.
Continuing the “Partners for Life” Strategy
Although the company is introducing new executive leadership, FUJIFILM Biotechnologies has made it clear that its long-term corporate strategy remains unchanged.
The “Partners for Life” strategy will continue serving as the organization’s guiding framework, emphasizing long-term collaboration with customers while supporting the development and manufacture of innovative biologic medicines.
Since its introduction, the strategy has focused on establishing trusted partnerships with biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies throughout every stage of drug development—from early process development and clinical manufacturing to large-scale commercial production.
Rather than introducing new strategic priorities, Pedersen indicated that her leadership will focus on executing the existing strategy more effectively through operational excellence, continuous quality improvement, and reliable customer delivery.
She emphasized that the company already possesses a strong foundation built by its employees and leadership team, and that her objective is to further strengthen those capabilities while continuing to grow alongside customers.
Strengthening Operational Excellence
As FUJIFILM Biotechnologies enters its next phase, operational excellence will become an even greater organizational priority.
Management has identified several key focus areas moving forward, including:
- Improving manufacturing efficiency across global facilities.
- Strengthening quality management systems.
- Enhancing customer delivery performance.
- Increasing manufacturing flexibility.
- Optimizing supply chain resilience.
- Leveraging standardized technologies across the global network.
These priorities reflect broader industry trends, where pharmaceutical companies increasingly rely on CDMOs capable of delivering consistent quality while managing increasingly sophisticated biologics manufacturing processes.
Pedersen’s operational background is expected to help accelerate initiatives designed to improve productivity while maintaining rigorous regulatory compliance.
The Importance of the kojoX Manufacturing Platform
A cornerstone of FUJIFILM Biotechnologies’ future strategy remains its proprietary kojoX operating system.
The kojoX platform serves as an integrated manufacturing framework that standardizes processes, procedures, equipment, facility designs, operational systems, and manufacturing data across the company’s worldwide production network.
By creating consistent operating standards across geographically dispersed manufacturing sites, kojoX offers several strategic advantages.
First, it enables faster technology transfer between manufacturing facilities, reducing delays when expanding production capacity.
Second, standardized systems improve manufacturing consistency, helping ensure products meet the same quality specifications regardless of production location.
Third, harmonized manufacturing processes simplify regulatory compliance by maintaining consistent documentation and operational procedures.
Finally, standardized operations improve supply chain resilience, allowing production to shift more efficiently between manufacturing facilities when necessary.
As biologics manufacturing continues becoming increasingly global, platforms such as kojoX provide significant competitive advantages by improving scalability while reducing operational complexity.
The company’s next phase will place even greater emphasis on realizing the full value of this manufacturing platform.
Chairman Toshihisa Iida Highlights Leadership Continuity
Toshihisa Iida, Chairman of FUJIFILM Biotechnologies, praised both leaders during the announcement.
He acknowledged Lars Petersen’s substantial contributions in transforming the organization while expressing confidence that Pedersen is well prepared to continue implementing the company’s long-term vision.
According to Iida, Pedersen has already demonstrated exceptional leadership in strengthening operational capabilities throughout the organization.
He highlighted her deep expertise in manufacturing operations, quality management, and customer-focused execution as key reasons why she is ideally suited to guide FUJIFILM Biotechnologies through its next stage of development.
Iida will continue serving as Chairman, providing strategic oversight while ensuring alignment between FUJIFILM Biotechnologies and the broader global strategy of the Fujifilm Group.
His ongoing leadership will help maintain continuity at the Board level while supporting the executive leadership team.
Business Operations Continue Without Change
Despite the executive leadership transition, FUJIFILM Biotechnologies emphasized that day-to-day business operations remain unchanged.
Customer projects currently underway will continue as planned, with no impact on development programs, manufacturing timelines, or commercial supply commitments.
Likewise, the company’s investment strategy, global manufacturing expansion plans, and long-term operational priorities remain firmly in place.
Maintaining stability throughout leadership transitions is particularly important within the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry, where customers depend on predictable timelines, regulatory compliance, and uninterrupted product supply.
By clearly communicating continuity across all major business functions, FUJIFILM Biotechnologies aims to reassure customers, employees, and business partners that the transition represents an evolution of leadership rather than a change in strategic direction.
Positioned for the Future
The appointment of Maja Pedersen as President marks an important milestone in FUJIFILM Biotechnologies’ evolution as one of the world’s leading contract development and manufacturing organizations. With more than 20 years of experience in quality, manufacturing, regulatory affairs, and operational leadership, she brings the expertise needed to guide the company through an increasingly complex and competitive biopharmaceutical landscape.
Supported by Lars Petersen’s continued involvement as Strategic Advisor, Chairman Toshihisa Iida’s strategic oversight, and the company’s established “Partners for Life” vision, FUJIFILM Biotechnologies is well positioned to continue expanding its global manufacturing capabilities while delivering high-quality development and production services to pharmaceutical and biotechnology innovators worldwide.
As demand for biologics and advanced therapies continues to rise, the company’s focus on operational excellence, standardized manufacturing through the kojoX platform, customer partnerships, and sustainable growth is expected to strengthen its role as a trusted global CDMO partner for the next generation of life-changing medicines.
About FUJIFILM Biotechnologies
FUJIFILM Biotechnologies, made up of several legal subsidiaries of FUJIFILM Corporation, is a world-leading contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) for biologics, vaccines and advanced therapies. With over 30 years of experience, the Company specializes in developing and manufacturing biopharmaceuticals using microbial, mammalian, and host/virus systems.
With over 5,000 employees, FUJIFILM Biotechnologies operates a fully integrated, kojoXTM global network with major facilities in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Denmark. The Company’s kojoX operating system harmonizes processes, procedures, systems, data, facility designs and equipment across its global manufacturing network to increase speed, while ensuring consistency, quality, scalability, and supply chain resilience.
FUJIFILM Biotechnologies offers comprehensive services, ranging from proprietary cell line development, to process and analytical development, and through to clinical and commercial manufacturing. For more information, go to: fujifilmbiotechnologies.fujifilm.com.
About FUJIFILM Corporation
FUJIFILM Corporation is a subsidiary of FUJIFILM Holdings Corporation. Founded in 1934, FUJIFILM Holdings Corporation, headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, leverages its depth of knowledge and proprietary core technologies to deliver innovative products and services across the globe through the four key business segments of Healthcare, Electronics, Business Innovation and Imaging with over 70,000 employees.
Guided and united by its Group Purpose of “Giving our world more smiles,” the company addresses social challenges and creates a positive impact on society through products, services, and business operations. Under its medium-term management plan, VISION2030, which ends in FY2030, Fujifilm aspires to continue its evolution into a company that creates value and smiles for various stakeholders as a collection of global leading businesses and achieve a global revenue of 4 trillion yen (24.8 billion EUR at an exchange rate of 161 JPY/EUR). For more information visit: www.fujifilmholdings.com.