Thermo Fisher Scientific to Double its Capacity of Viral Vector Manufacturing

WALTHAM, Mass., May 11, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE: TMO), the world leader in serving science, today announced it is expanding capacity for viral vector development and manufacturing services with construction of a new commercial manufacturing site in Plainville, Mass. The $180 million project will more than double the company’s commercial viral vector capacity to support increasing demand for the development and manufacture of gene therapies and vaccines.

Construction of the new 290,000-square-foot facility is expected to be completed in 2022. The project will add more than 200 jobs and complement the company’s new or recently expanded capacity in Lexington and Cambridge, Mass., and Alachua, Fla.

“The Plainville expansion significantly enhances our ‘start here, stay here’ strategy, ensuring that customers have an uninterrupted pathway from development through commercialization,” said Michel Lagarde, executive vice president of Thermo Fisher Scientific. “Between Plainville and our other expanded sites in the U.S., we’re increasing viral vector production to accelerate cell and gene therapy innovation, giving hope to more patients everywhere.”

The Plainville site will offer a flexible and scalable configuration of laboratory and production suites co-located with adjacent warehousing and office space. An onsite engineering laboratory will help customers develop turnkey production platforms that enable them to rapidly transition to commercial-scale operations when ready. As with its other viral vector development and manufacturing sites, Thermo Fisher’s Plainville site will attract a diverse workforce of scientists, quality control specialists and production teams.

Thermo Fisher strategically selected Plainville to capitalize on its expertise at other Massachusetts locations and draw upon the strong talent pool in the Greater Boston area. The state-of-the-art facility will feature digital connectivity and capabilities that enable operational efficiencies, high quality, data visibility and advanced operator training.

Lagarde added, “The global race to develop new transformative medicines illustrates how important it is for our customers to have access to surge capacity as well as flexibility to adapt and change therapeutic platforms, whether they are developing a new viral vector for a novel therapy or the next life-saving cancer treatment.”

About Thermo Fisher Scientific

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. is the world leader in serving science, with annual revenue exceeding $25 billion. Our Mission is to enable our customers to make the world healthier, cleaner and safer. Whether our customers are accelerating life sciences research, solving complex analytical challenges, improving patient diagnostics and therapies or increasing productivity in their laboratories, we are here to support them. Our global team of more than 75,000 colleagues delivers an unrivaled combination of innovative technologies, purchasing convenience and pharmaceutical services through our industry-leading brands, including Thermo Scientific, Applied Biosystems, Invitrogen, Fisher Scientific, Unity Lab Services and Patheon. For more information, please visit www.thermofisher.com.

Media Contact Information:
Ron O’Brien
Phone: 781-622-1242
E-mail: ron.obrien@thermofisher.com  
Website: www.thermofisher.com

Investor Contact Information:
Ken Apicerno
Phone: 781-622-1294
E-mail: ken.apicerno@thermofisher.com

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SOURCE Thermo Fisher Scientific