PRESS RELEASE
Embargo: July 15th, 2013
AstaReal Technologies and Fuji Chemical Industry announce a new manufacturing facility in Moses Lake, WA
(Moses Lake, July 15th, 2013) Fuji Chemical Industry, AstaReal Technologies Inc., Grant County, and the City of Moses Lake jointly announced today that AstaReal Technologies Inc. will build a microalgae based biotechnological manufacturing plant for the production of natural astaxanthin in Moses Lake, Washington.
During the initial construction phase, $30 million will be invested and 45 permanent local jobs will be created. Fuji established its manufacturing subsidiary, AstaReal Technologies, Inc., in order to expand its astaxanthin business in the United States.
In line with its philosophy to contribute to the health of people all over the world, Fuji decided to build the astaxanthin factory in the City of Moses Lake in Grant County primarily because of the abundant water resource and competitive costs of renewable hydropower energy. A skilled labor force, an open culture welcoming to Japanese companies, and supportive local and state governments were also contributing factors for the decision to locate in Moses Lake.
“Astaxanthin is an effective anti-inflammatory agent for living organisms. We want to make people healthier and happier by delivering astaxanthin raw materials for health foods to people across the world.” said Mitsunori Nishida, President and CEO of Fuji Chemical Industry. “We see the 21st century as the era of anti-aging. We believe that preventive medicine will play an even greater role in future of healthcare as advances in anti-aging and lifestyle disease research drive improvements both in the treatment and prevention of disease and illness. To that end, we have succeeded in realizing the world's first industrial production of natural astaxanthin which is both safe and high in antioxidant potency. We have devoted more efforts than any other research organization in advancing astaxanthin research.”
Grant County, the City and Port of Moses Lake, the Grant County Economic Development Council, and the Washington State Department of Commerce worked cooperatively with Fuji over the past year to help this visionary manufacturing facility become a reality.
“We are pleased that Fuji and AstaReal have decided to make Moses Lake and Grant County the home of this one-of-a-kind manufacturing process,” said Moses Lake Mayor Bill Ecret.
AstaReal Technologies will produce natural astaxanthin using state of the art photo-bioreactors to cultivate microalgae. AstaReal has been developing its technology for astaxanthin since the 1990s. This technology is the key to manage the environment of microalgae in order to realize a stable production of high quality natural astaxanthin. The natural astaxanthin produced in Moses Lake will be marketed in the United States and worldwide through Fuji’s various subsidiaries.
The manufacturing plant is anticipated to be completed and start operation in the third quarter of 2014. AstaReal Technologies plans to hire 45 skilled people as manufacturing operators, quality control, facilities maintenance and administration. Most employees will be hired locally in mid-2014.
President Nishida said “We are honored to be a community member of Grant County and the City of Moses Lake. We believe that this community will experience significant grow and want to contribute to this future development. This 30 million dollar investment shows our strong commitment to the future of this community.”
About Fuji Chemical Industry and AstaReal
Fuji Chemical Industry, established in 1946, is a Japanese pharmaceutical company whose businesses are the production and sales of pharmaceutical products, contract manufacturing of pharmaceutical and bulk pharmaceutical products, and the production and sales of food additives. Currently Fuji Chemical and its subsidiary companies sell their products in more than 20 countries. AstaReal is the global brand name of Fuji’s astaxanthin business.
Important note: This press release contains statements on future developments that are based on currently available information and that involve risks and uncertainties that could lead to actual results deviating from these forward-looking statements. The statements on future developments are not to be understood as guarantees. The future developments and events are dependent on a number of factors; they include various risks and unanticipated circumstances and are based on assumptions that may not be correct. These risks and uncertainties include, for example, unforeseeable changes in political, economic and business conditions, particularly in the area of the competitive situation, interest rate and currency developments, technological developments and other risks and unanticipated circumstances. It is not intended to update these forward-looking statements.
AstaReal Technologies, Inc. | 210 E. Third Avenue, Suite C, Moses Lake, Moses Lake, WA 98837 USA T: +1-509-855-4370 | F: +1-509-765-9073
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