Thermo Fisher Scientific Expands Sterile Drug Product Development and Commercial Manufacturing

On Dec. 9, 2020, Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that it will further expand its footprint in North America and Europe for sterile drug product development and commercial manufacturing for critical medicines, therapies, and vaccines.

The Thermo Fisher sites currently being expanded are:

• Greenville, NC
• Swindon, UK
• Ferentino, Italy
• Monza, Italy.

The company’s investments into these four sites will add 15 development and current good manufacturing practice (cGMP) commercial production lines, which will support a range of capabilities, including live virus, aseptic liquid, and lyophilized vial filling. The company expects to complete these projects over the next two years.

Each of the sterile drug manufacturing sites will implement new sterile lines for high-capacity commercial liquid filing that is expected to be operational in 2021, according to Thermo Fisher. In the Greenville and Ferentino sites, the company will construct a new standalone facility and development building that will have two live virus filling lines and one flexible line for development projects and small-scale commercial manufacturing, respectively.

The expansion includes sterile lines for liquid and lyophilized filling as well as extensive cold chain storage for vaccines that require ultra-low temperatures. Together, the site expansions will offer 11,000 new jobs, adding to Thermo Fisher’s existing workforce of 41,000 employees across these four sites.

In addition to expansions in North America and Europe, Thermo Fisher recently announced significant projects in Asia-Pacific, including a new sterile manufacturing facility in Singapore and a new integrated biologics and sterile drug development and manufacturing site in Hangzhou, China.

"We have continued to invest strategically in capacity, technology, and expertise across our global network so we can accelerate innovation and enhance productivity for our customers," said Mike Shafer, senior vice-president and president, pharma services, Thermo Fisher Scientific, in a company press release. "This has enabled us to respond quickly and support our customers with unprecedented scale and depth of capabilities to meet high demand for new therapies and vaccines. By simplifying the supply chain and solving complex manufacturing challenges, we shorten development timelines in order to get high-quality medicines to patients, faster."

"With these investments, we've nearly doubled our global footprint for drug development and commercial manufacturing, which allows us to support our customers with unmatched flexibility, expertise, and scale at a time of unprecedented demand," added Shafer.

Source: Thermo Fisher Scientific