Thermo Fisher Scientific is investing $50 million in its St. Louis, Missouri site, which is one of the company’s Centers of Excellence (COE) for Biological Commercial Manufacturing. The investment is part of a strategy to expand the company’s global network of biologic drug-substance capabilities for clinical and commercial supply.

The project includes expansion to the existing manufacturing Building #2 by 64,000 square feet, which will double its manufacturing capacity. The expansion is expected to be operational in 2019. The expansion will use the Thermo Fisher bioproduction “eco-system” for bioreactors, consumables, and factory automation. The investment will also allow for further expansion in the future. Approximately 80 new technical jobs are expected to be added.

The St. Louis site currently provides process development, clinical cGMP manufacturing, and commercial manufacturing using both fed-batch and perfusion processes. The St. Louis COE, with more than a decade of manufacturing experience, has in-house analytical capabilities for quality assurance and quality control. The St. Louis site is one of Patheon Biologics Network four sites that has standardized on a 2,000-L, single-use platform as the preferred option in new drug development through to commercialization.

Source: Thermo Fisher Scientific