Thermo Fisher Scientific Expands Capabilities

Following the acquisitions of Patheon in 2017 and Brammer Bio in 2019, Thermo Fisher Scientific has invested an additional $270 million investment this year to expand its capabilities and capacity for pharma and biotech development and manufacturing, the company reported in recent press statements and meetings at CPhI Worldwide in Frankfurt, Germany on Nov. 5-7, 2019.

Investments include a training center, which features virtual reality and augmented reality modalities at its manufacturing site in Greenville, NC. With this program, operators can be trained in less time, the company reports. In December 2019, the company will open a Lab of the Future at the Greenville site. The modular quality control laboratory will feature Thermo Fisher Scientific’s ultra-high-pressure liquid chromatography systems, laboratory automation, and an informatics system for analytical testing.

In addition, an Optima high-speed, high-volume prefilled syringe/cartridge line is scheduled for launch at the Greenville site in December 2019. The expanded capacity targets growing demand for sterile fill/finish of biologic therapies.

On Nov. 22. 2019, the company unveiled a $6 million expansion of its gene therapy and viral vector services site in Alachua, FL. The investment doubled laboratory and warehousing capacity for upstream process development and quality control testing of gene therapy products. The company previously announced expansions at its gene-therapy facilities in Cambridge, MA, and a new gene therapies and gene-modified cell therapies commercial manufacturing site in Lexington, MA.

Other recent or announced expansions include new commercial packaging capabilities for complex packaging configurations, small runs, and quick turnovers for oral solid dosage and sterile drug forms; a $50 million investment in biologics manufacturing capacity in St. Louis; new facilities for clinical trials supply and distribution services network in Germany, India, Argentina, and China; the acquisition of the GlaxoSmithKline API manufacturing site in Cork, Ireland; and the opening of the continuous manufacturing line in 2020.

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