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Sanofi's twin sites win ISPE's overall 2026 Facility of the Year Award. French drugmaker Sanofi took home the top prize last night at the International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering's 2026 Facility of the Year Award (FOYA) banquet, recognizing biopharmaceutical manufacturing projects for their advances in operations, innovation, supply chain, digitalization, and social impact. Sanofi's twin facilities in Neuville-sur-Saône, France and Tuas, Singapore were selected as a category winner for Innovation - Facility of the Future and also awarded this year's overall FOYA award for exemplifying how the application of advanced digital technologies leads to improved outcomes in terms of safety, product quality, and productivity. Mike Martin, ISPE's president and CEO, said at the dinner ceremony that the overall FOYA award to Sanofi recognizes a global manufacturing project that brings together innovation, flexibility, sustainability, and operational excellence. Sanofi's twin facilities in France and Singapore "stood out for reimagining what modern biomanufacturing can be," according to Martin, who noted the company's dual-site approach was "designed as a fully modular, digitally native platform" enabling multiple vaccines and biologics to be produced within a single facility while "dramatically" reducing changeover time. ISPE called out the Sanofi Modulus platform for its "plug-and-produce" modular architecture, allowing manufacturing lines to be rapidly reconfigured for different products or processes - with new equipment modules simply moved in and connected to pre-installed utility, data, and control interfaces. "Advanced automation, artificial intelligence, real-time analytics, and predictive technologies are integrated throughout the operation, creating a manufacturing model built for speed, resilience, and future demand," Martin added. "This project represents a new standard for flexible and intelligent biomanufacturing." FOYA judge Gunter Baumgartner, senior vice president and head global engineering at Takeda Pharmaceuticals, said Sanofi's Modulus project includes a rare combination of "visionary design, operational brilliance, and a deep commitment to improving patient outcomes" that "not only meets the moment but defines the future." Liang Hong Koh, Singapore site head, Modulus Sanofi, thanked ISPE for the "tremendous recognition" to be selected as the overall 2026 FOYA. With the Modulus platform, he said Sanofi succeeded in the simultaneous design and construction of two facilities - a greenfield campus in Tuas and an expansion of its Neuville-sur-Saône site - that are adaptable and flexible in manufacturing. Pointing to this year's other FOYA category award winners, he commented that the biopharma industry "can achieve remarkable things when we challenge ourselves to do things differently and to think differently." The banquet kicked off this year's ISPE Annual Meeting & Expo in the Washington, D.C. area, with awards to category winners including AstraZeneca, BSP Pharmaceuticals, Eli Lilly, Hepalink Pharmaceutical Group, and Takeda - with honorable mention to Chugai Pharma Manufacturing and Fujifilm Biotechnologies. Bayer's SOLIDA-1 site in Leverkusen, Germany won two separate FOYA awards - Operations - Operational Excellence and Pharma 4.0 - for its integration of modular design, end-to-end automation, and digital manufacturing architecture. The German site includes autonomous material flow and connected-data systems, improving equipment effectiveness and reducing manual intervention while supporting scalable oral solid dose production, according to ISPE. [email protected] As Editor in Chief, Greg oversees all aspects of planning, managing, and producing the content for Pharma Manufacturing's website and digital products, as well as the daily operations of its editorial team. For more than 20 years, Greg has covered the healthcare, life sciences, and medical device industries for several trade publications. He is the recipient of a Post-Newsweek Business Information Editorial Excellence Award for his news reporting and a Gold Award for Best Case Study from the American Society of Healthcare Publication Editors. In addition, Greg is a Healthcare Fellow from the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing. When not covering the pharma manufacturing industry, he is an avid Buffalo Bills football and Buffalo Sabres hockey fan, likes to kayak, and plays guitar. Topics: Factory Was this helpful to you?

Fujifilm Instax Square 2 appeals with analogue colour filters & new Soft Haze film. Emma Wheaton | 20 Oct 2026 Fujifilm is refreshing its square-format instant camera range with the Instax Square 2, a new analogue model that lets shooters use physical filters to change the colour tone of their photographs, rather than relying on digital effects. Announced in October, the Instax Square 2 has a redesigned body, warm and cool colour settings to choose from, and a new instant film option for those photographers after softer and more atmospheric images. The camera is scheduled to launch from 28 October, with US pricing starting at US$119.95. Australian pricing and availability have not yet been confirmed. Unlike hybrid instant cameras that combine digital photography with printing, the Square 2 has a fully analogue shooting experience. Users compose their images through an optical viewfinder, take the photograph and get a physical instant print on the Instax Square film. The biggest addition to the new model is Fujifilm's Mood Filter Switch, which allows photographers to choose between Warm, Cool and Off settings before taking a picture. Warm adds a subtle golden hue, while Cool adds a bluer tone. Switching the filters off keeps the standard Instax film look. The filters sit in front of the lens, meaning the colour effect is physically applied during capture and not through software after the photo has been taken. It's an approach that gives the Square 2 a different appeal from smartphone photography, where filters are typically applied digitally and images can be edited extensively before sharing. The camera also features automatic exposure and flash adjustment, as well as a rotating lens ring that selects Standard, Close-up or Landscape shooting modes, and a built-in selfie mirror. Fujifilm has redesigned the camera with a rounded body. It will be available in three colours: Slate Blue, Misty White and Brick Red. Alongside the launch of the Square 2 is the release of a new film option, the Instax Square Soft Haze, which delivers lower colour saturation and contrast, glowing highlights and warm, diffused shadows. The film is intended to create a softer appearance, free from digital manipulation. Each pack contains 10 exposures, with US pricing set at US$18.99. Soft Haze is compatible with existing Instax Square cameras, so owners of earlier models can experiment with the new film without buying the Square 2. The standard Square format produces square photographs measuring approximately 62mm by 62mm within the film's larger frame. Instant cameras continue to appeal to travellers, younger photographers and people who prefer physical keepsakes to digital photo libraries. However, film costs are an important consideration. With 10 exposures per Soft Haze pack, each photograph represents a consumable expense, which arguably is part of the appeal. It invites photographers to slow down, be more creative and be more conscious of what and how they shoot. Fujifilm has not yet confirmed Australian pricing or a local release date for either of the new products.