Ajinomoto Bio-Pharma Services
Ajinomoto Bio-Pharma Services is a global CDMO providing integrated contract development and manufacturing services across small molecules, large molecules, gene therapy, oligonucleotides, and peptides for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, operating from sites in the US, Belgium, Japan, and India.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2018
- HeadquartersSan Diego, United States
- Headcount1,001–5,000
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Ajinomoto Bio-Pharma Services does
Ajinomoto Bio-Pharma Services is a fully integrated contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) offering drug substance and drug product manufacturing services across small molecules, large molecules, gene therapy, oligonucleotides, and peptides. The company operates manufacturing sites in four countries — the United States (San Diego, though the aseptic fill/finish entity was divested in April 2025), Belgium (Wetteren, Balen, Mont Saint Guibert), Japan (Osaka), and India (Visakhapatnam) — providing services from pre-clinical development through commercial supply. Its core technology portfolio includes five proprietary platforms: AJICAP™ (site-selective antibody-drug conjugate bioconjugation), AJIPHASE® (hybrid solid-solution phase synthesis for oligonucleotides and peptides), Corynex® (Corynebacterium glutamicum-based recombinant protein expression), Crystalomics® (crystal suspension formulation for high-concentration biologics), and AJILITY™ (fast-track drug product manufacturing for vaccines and accelerated programs). The company holds multiple regulatory certifications including FDA approvals, European GMP from MHRA and HPRA, and FDA EIR for its India facility.
The company generates revenue through two primary streams: contract manufacturing services (project-based contracts and long-term manufacturing agreements with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies across clinical and commercial phases) and technology licensing (proprietary platforms including AJIPHASE®, AJICAP™, and Corynex® licensed to other pharma companies). The company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ajinomoto Co., Inc. (TYO: 2802), a Tokyo-based conglomerate, and was formally constituted in October 2018 through the integration of Ajinomoto Althea (US biologics/fill-finish, acquired from Althea Technologies for ~$175M in 2013) and Ajinomoto OmniChem (Belgium small molecule API), with subsequent additions of GeneDesign (Japan, oligonucleotide CDMO, acquired 2016) and full ownership of Granules OmniChem (India, acquired 2020). The company targets both biotechnology companies developing novel therapeutics and pharmaceutical companies seeking contract manufacturing for APIs, drug products, and specialized modalities, with enterprise field sales teams and participation in industry conferences like the World ADC Summit as its go-to-market motion.
Ajinomoto Bio-Pharma Services firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Ajinomoto Bio-Pharma Services
- Legal name
- Ajinomoto Bio-Pharma Services
- Website
- https://ajibio-pharma.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2018
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1,001–5,000 employees
- Short description
- Ajinomoto Bio-Pharma Services is a global CDMO providing integrated contract development and manufacturing services across small molecules, large molecules, gene therapy, oligonucleotides, and peptides for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, operating from sites in the US, Belgium, Japan, and India.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Ajinomoto Bio-Pharma Services industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Contract Pharmaceutical Manufacturing
- NAICS
- Pharmaceutical and Medicine Manufacturing (3254), Biological Product (except Diagnostic) Manufacturing (325414), Research and Development in Biotechnology (except Nanobiotechnology) (541714), Pharmaceutical Preparation Manufacturing (325412)
- SIC
- Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731), Pharmaceutical Preparations (2834), Biological Products, (No Disgnostic Substances) (2836)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Drug Substance–Drug Product Integrated CDMO (HLAGABAG)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Biologics (mAbs/Recombinant Proteins) CDMO (HLAGABAC), Small-Molecule API & Intermediates CDMO (HLAGABAA)
Keywords
Where Ajinomoto Bio-Pharma Services is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- San Diego
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices6 records
Markets served
Ajinomoto Bio-Pharma Services business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Contract Manufacturing Services: Full-service CDMO providing drug substance and drug product manufacturing services across clinical and commercial phases. Revenue generated through project-based contracts and long-term manufacturing agreements with pharmaceutical and biotech companies.
- Technology Licensing: Licensing of proprietary technologies including AJIPHASE®, AJICAP™, and Corynex® to pharmaceutical companies for in-house development programs.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels3 records
Ajinomoto Bio-Pharma Services product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Ajinomoto Bio-Pharma Services is a fully integrated Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO) providing drug substance and drug product manufacturing services across small molecules, large molecules, gene therapies, oligonucleotides, and peptides. Services span pre-clinical through commercial phases, including process development, cGMP manufacturing, aseptic fill-finish, highly potent API and ADC production, and product quality/analytical testing, delivered through manufacturing sites in Belgium, the United States, Japan, and India. The company also licenses proprietary technology platforms (AJICAP™, AJIPHASE®, Corynex®, Crystalomics®) to pharmaceutical clients for in-house development programs.
Product overview
Ajinomoto Bio-Pharma Services is a fully integrated Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO) providing comprehensive pharmaceutical manufacturing services across small molecule, large molecule, and advanced therapies. The company operates as a single unified platform combining multiple manufacturing capabilities and proprietary technology platforms including AJICAP™ (ADC bioconjugation), CORYNEX® (protein expression), AJIPHASE® (oligonucleotide/peptide synthesis), and Crystalomics® (crystal formulation). Services span from pre-clinical development through commercial supply, covering drug substance and drug product manufacturing, fill-finish, and analytical services across facilities in Belgium, United States, Japan, and India.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- AJICAP™: Proprietary site-selective bioconjugation technology for ADC manufacturing enabling controlled payload conjugation and drug-to-antibody ratio tuning.
- AJIPHASE®
- AJILITY™
- Corynex®
- Crystalomics®
Products and services
- Small Molecule Manufacturing
- Large Molecule Manufacturing
- Highly Potent & ADC Services
- Oligo & Peptide Synthesis
- Gene Therapy Manufacturing
- Development Services
- Product Quality & Analytical Services
- AJICAP™
- Corynex®
- AJIPHASE®
- AJILITY™ Fast Track Platform
Quantifiable outcome
- Site-specific ADC with DAR of 2 achieved enhanced therapeutic window compared to stochastic ADCs
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Ajinomoto Bio-Pharma Services
Customer profileNamed customers12 records
Segments2 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Ajinomoto Bio-Pharma Services technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature6 records
Ajinomoto Bio-Pharma Services partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
19 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- Piramal Pharma SolutionscoreStrategic collaboration for ADC development and manufacturing. Piramal refers applicable customers seeking ADC manufacturing technology to Ajinomoto Bio-Pharma Services and AJICAP™. Aji Bio-Pharma refers Piramal to customers as a potential CDMO for AJICAP™-based products. A separate Material Transfer Agreement (MTA) enables technology transfer between companies.
- Astellas Pharma Inc.coreLicensing agreement for biopharmaceutical development and manufacturing technology.
- Olon S.p.A.coreStrategic partnership to advance large-scale peptide and protein manufacturing.
- Gene ToolscoreCollaboration to expand access to PMO (phosphorodiamidate morpholino oligomer) therapeutics.
- RIBOMIC Inc.minorSuccessful extension of nucleic acid aptamer pharmacokinetics in joint research.
- NJ Bio, Inc.coreCollaboration to strengthen support for antibody-drug conjugate development.
- RIBOMIC Inc.minorJoint research agreement for nucleic acid aptamer pharmacokinetics extension.
- ExelixiscoreLicense agreement to discover and develop novel antibody-drug conjugates for cancer treatment.
- Bright Peak TherapeuticscoreResearch collaboration and license agreement to create novel immunocytokines.
- Revance TherapeuticscoreCommercial manufacturing agreement for supply of DaxibotulinumtoxinA for Injection.
- DNDi (Drugs for Neglected Disease initiative)coreStrategic supply partnership for CpG-D35 oligonucleotide as part of combination therapy for cutaneous leishmaniasis. Supported by GHIT Fund.
- HumanigencoreManufacturing agreement for fill finish supply of lenzilumab for COVID-19 Phase III clinical trials.
- CytoDyncoreManufacturing partnership for drug product (leronlimab/PRO 140) used in COVID-19 clinical trials.
- Trio PharmaceuticalscoreDevelopment collaboration to evaluate AJICAP™ for development of TRIObody Drug Conjugate™ (TDC) for cancer therapeutics.
- GeneDesigncoreGeneDesign joined Ajinomoto Bio-Pharma Services as wholly owned subsidiary. Provides oligonucleotide API development center in Osaka, Japan (2000 m²) with Class 100,000 clean area for cGMP manufacturing.
- XL-proteincoreStrategic alliance applying Ajinomoto's Corynex® expression system with XL-protein's PASylation® technology for plasma half-life extension of therapeutic compounds. Successfully produced PASylated GLP-1 variant at laboratory scale.
- Precision NanoSystemscoreManufacturing collaboration agreement for GMP manufacturing of nanomedicines using PNI's NanoAssemblr™ Scale-Up system. Ajinomoto qualified PNI's GMP facilities and will provide clinical development services.
- US FDAcoreGranules OmniChem Limited received Establishment Inspection Report (EIR) from US-FDA following successful on-site inspection for Pre-Approval Inspection of commercial custom manufactured product.
- Ajinomoto Co., Inc.coreAjinomoto Co., Inc. acquired Althea Technologies for approximately $175 million. Althea became Ajinomoto Althea, Inc. and later combined with OmniChem to form Ajinomoto Bio-Pharma Services.
Scale indicators7 records
Recent moves10 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Ajinomoto Bio-Pharma Services competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Lonza Group: Swiss-headquartered global CDMO leader offering integrated small-molecule API, biologics, cell and gene therapy, and peptide manufacturing. Most directly comparable peer given breadth of modalities, proprietary tech platforms, and prior executive overlap (CEO David Enloe was previously Head of Viral Therapeutics at Lonza).
- Catalent: Large US-headquartered CDMO with biologics, fill-finish, ADC, and gene therapy capabilities (now owned by Novo Holdings). Closest comparable in integrated drug-substance/drug-product services and ADC/bioconjugation expertise.
- Samsung Biologics: Korean biologics CDMO offering large-scale mammalian cell culture, fill-finish, and aseptic manufacturing with global enterprise customer base. Comparable in large-molecule manufacturing scale and enterprise pharma customer wins.
- WuXi AppTec / WuXi STA: China-headquartered integrated CRDMO with extensive small-molecule API, biologics, oligonucleotide, and peptide manufacturing capabilities. Comparable end-to-end multi-modality CDMO model.
- Boehringer Ingelheim BioXcellence: German pharma's contract biologics manufacturing arm offering mammalian cell culture, microbial expression, and fill-finish. Comparable in large-molecule CDMO services and proprietary expression platforms.
- AGC Biologics: Global CDMO focused on microbial and mammalian biologics, gene therapy, and vaccine manufacturing. Comparable in proprietary expression platforms (Corynex® analog to AGC's microbial systems) and gene therapy modality.
- Bachem: Swiss-listed peptide and oligonucleotide CDMO with large-scale cGMP manufacturing. Highly comparable in oligo/peptide synthesis capabilities (AJIPHASE® overlap) and specialty API CDMO focus.
- CordenPharma: Europe-headquartered CDMO offering peptide, oligonucleotide, lipid, and small-molecule API manufacturing. Closely comparable in peptide/oligo synthesis services and high-potency API capabilities.
- Recipharm: European CDMO providing small-molecule API and biologics fill-finish services to pharma and biotech customers. Comparable in multi-site European footprint and integrated drug substance/drug product offering.
Broad incumbents
- Thermo Fisher Scientific (Patheon CDMO): Diversified life-sciences incumbent whose Patheon CDMO business offers small-molecule API, biologics, fill-finish, and clinical trial materials globally. Comparable as broad-based CDMO incumbent; less focused on ADC/oligo specialization.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Ajinomoto Bio-Pharma Services social profiles
Digital presenceAjinomoto Bio-Pharma Services compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance4 records
Ajinomoto Bio-Pharma Services financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Ajinomoto Bio-Pharma Services leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles4 records
Ajinomoto Bio-Pharma Services subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries2 records
Ajinomoto Bio-Pharma Services funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Ajinomoto Bio-Pharma Services M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Ajinomoto Bio-Pharma Services
What does Ajinomoto Bio-Pharma Services do?
Ajinomoto Bio-Pharma Services is a fully integrated Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO) providing drug substance and drug product manufacturing services across small molecules, large molecules, gene therapies, oligonucleotides, and peptides. Services span pre-clinical through commercial phases, including process development, cGMP manufacturing, aseptic fill-finish, highly potent API and ADC production, and product quality/analytical testing, delivered through manufacturing sites in Belgium, the United States, Japan, and India. The company also licenses proprietary technology platforms (AJICAP™, AJIPHASE®, Corynex®, Crystalomics®) to pharmaceutical clients for in-house development programs.
Is Ajinomoto Bio-Pharma Services a public or private company?
Ajinomoto Bio-Pharma Services is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently operating.
When was Ajinomoto Bio-Pharma Services founded?
Ajinomoto Bio-Pharma Services was founded in 2018. It employs 1,001 to 5,000 people.
Where is Ajinomoto Bio-Pharma Services based?
Ajinomoto Bio-Pharma Services is headquartered in San Diego, United States, in the North America region.
How does Ajinomoto Bio-Pharma Services make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Contract Manufacturing Services are the primary driver. The others are technology Licensing.
Who are Ajinomoto Bio-Pharma Services's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Lonza Group, Catalent, Samsung Biologics, WuXi AppTec / WuXi STA, Boehringer Ingelheim BioXcellence, AGC Biologics, Bachem, CordenPharma and Recipharm. Thermo Fisher Scientific (Patheon CDMO) is listed as a broad incumbent.
Does Ajinomoto Bio-Pharma Services have an API?
No public API is recorded for Ajinomoto Bio-Pharma Services.
What industry is Ajinomoto Bio-Pharma Services in?
Ajinomoto Bio-Pharma Services's product category is Contract Pharmaceutical Manufacturing. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HLAGABAG, Drug Substance–Drug Product Integrated CDMO, with a secondary code of HLAGABAC, Biologics (mAbs/Recombinant Proteins) CDMO. Its NAICS code is 3254 and its SIC code is 8731.