September 3, 2021 – Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (Waltham, MA) announced a $192.5 million contract award from the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) to ensure reliable domestic production of pipette tips. The DOD award was issued on behalf of and in coordination with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
The award will allow Thermo Fisher to co-invest with the U.S. government in building a new, state-of-the-art, energy efficient manufacturing facility for pipette tips, which are the company says are used in vital disease research and in high volumes for processing of diagnostic tests nationally, including COVID-19, during the pandemic.
The new center will be located in North Carolina and designed in line with Thermo Fisher’s carbon neutrality goals.
Construction is expected to be fully completed by Q3 2024, with pipette tip manufacturing starting as early as Q3 2023. The company also announced that the site has the potential for future expansion across a variety of high-demand product lines.