March 10, 2021 – Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (Waltham, MA) announced more than $600 million in capital investments to expand its bioprocessing production capabilities through 2022.
The company says it expects the investments to more than double its current manufacturing capacity and support biopharma customers as they ramp up to meet both the short-term demands related to COVID-19 as well as long-term efforts to develop new vaccines and biologics.
With these investments, the company expects to create more than 1,500 new jobs across 11 manufacturing sites in the Americas, Europe and Asia. Specific investments include:
Single-Use Technologies Expansions
To increase supply chain resiliency across multiple locations on three continents, Thermo Fisher’s single-use technologies business is expanding capacity at sites in Logan, Utah; Millersburg, Pa.; Cramlington, U.K.; Singapore and Suzhou, China. Additional investment at its Santa Clara, Calif. site will expand bioprocessing equipment and automation capacity.
Purification Expansions
The company will also expand its POROS resin manufacturing site in Bedford, Mass. and open a new 85,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Chelmsford, Mass. These sites will reinforce Thermo Fisher’s purification network that specializes in the production of process-scale chromatography resins for a variety of applications, including vaccines and gene therapies.
Cell Culture Media and Process Liquid Expansions
Investments to expand capacity at sites in Grand Island, NY; Miami, Fla. and Inchinnan, Scotland will increase production of Gibco cell culture media, supplements and process liquids as well as the manufacturing of customer-owned proprietary media formulations. These investments provide redundancy to support global supply and further extend capabilities, including harmonizing dual-milling options worldwide.