Throughout 2025, Thermo Fisher Scientific is investing in capacity and capabilities for drug-substances, drug products, clinical trial supply, and bioproduction. Jennifer Cannon, President, Commercial Operations, Pharma Services Business, Thermo Fisher, highlighted key developments at the DCAT Member Company Announcement Forum at DCAT Week.   

On the drug-substance side, Thermo Fisher is bringing eight new bioreactors on line in 2025 (4 x 5,000-L single-use bioreactors in Lengnau, Switzerland, and 4 x 2,000-L single-use bioreactors in St. Louis, Missouri). It is also bringing online an expanded CHO-K1 cell-line offering and its Rapid Development Framework, used to accelerate development and manufacturing of cell and gene therapies, for broad-range viral vectors and cell therapies.  

The company is also expanding capabilities across both sterile and oral solid dose (OSD) formats. Thermo Fisher will add multiple new drug-product service lines in 2025, including four high-speed prefilled syringe lines at its site in Greenville, North Carolina, and one new line in Swindon, UK. That’s in addition to expanding seven pharmaceutical development service lines to support sterile fill–finish at sites across Europe and the US (Ferentino, Italy, Greenville, North Carolina, Monza, Italy, and Plainville, Massachusetts). In the OSD and packaging space, the company will add three new lines (Cincinnati, Ohio, blister; Toronto, Canada, bottle-filling; and Bourgoin, France, roller compactor) and enhance its engineered solutions capabilities with new capabilities in compaction, stability modeling, and spray drying across its global network.  

To support clinical supply chain continuity, Thermo Fisher is expanding its clinical trial services footprint, with investments in capabilities that range from pre-filled syringe packaging capabilities to cold storage for pens and auto-injectors: Allentown, Pennyslvania, pre-filled syringe automated assembly line; Horsham, UK, a new automated packaging for pens and auto-injectors and -80°C freezers, storage, packing, and distribution; and Greenville, North Carolina, and Monza, Italy, expanded sterile packaging). In addition, seven clinical-trial site expansions are underway, including a recently opened space at the company’s site in São Paulo, Brazil.  

With respect to bioproduction and supply-chain solutions, Thermo Fisher is making targeted investments to strengthen supply chains, including cGMP chemical capabilities in Europe, as well as the company’s secondary and multi-sourcing program. Also, in February (February 2025), the company agreed to acquire the Purification and Filtration business of Solventum, a Saint Paul, Minnesota-based healthcare company, for $4.1 billion. The business provides purification and filtration technologies used in the production of biologics as well as in medical technologies and industrial applications. The business operates globally with sites across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia-Pacific region and has approximately 2,500 employees. In 2024, Solventum’s Purification & Filtration business generated approximately $1 billion of revenue. The transaction is expected to be completed by the end of 2025, and is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals. The business is complementary to Thermo Fisher’s bioproduction business and broadens Thermo Fisher’s capabilities in the development and manufacturing of biologics, spanning upstream and downstream workflows. 

Also, in 2025, the company has earmarked $1.5 million to enhance data integration and operational efficiencies, including automation tools, across its CDMO and CRO sites in addition to expanding its supporting workforce. Earlier this year, the company formed a partnership with Lyndra Therapeutics, a Watertown, Massachusetts-based company with a proprietary drug-delivery platform for long-acting oral medicines to use Thermo Fisher’s end-to-end advanced pharmaceutical manufacturing capabilities in Cincinnati, Ohio. Thermo Fisher is soon set to break ground on a custom manufacturing line for the project at its site in Cincinnati, Ohio.