Thermo Fisher injecting $150m in Patheon fill & finish plants

Two facilities in Italy and a site in Greenville, North Carolina are being expanded to support demand for biologics aseptic liquid and lyophilized product development and manufacturing.

Since Thermo Fisher acquired contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) Patheon for $7.2 billion (€6.4 billion) in August 2017, the firm has invested $50 million to double single-use capacity at the St Louis, Missouri biologics facility.

Now Thermo Fisher is investing further in the Patheon network through expansions at three global fill & finish plants totalling $150 million to support the demand in biomanufacturing services.

Patheon’s Greenville, NC plant. Image c/o Thermo Fisher/Patheon

“In Monza, Italy, the company is completing the construction of a state-ot-the-art sterile injectables development center with vial filling and automated lyophilizer loading and unloading,” Thermo Fisher spokesperson Ron O’Brien told Bioprocess Insider.

“The site is expanding its commercial liquid-filled and lyophilized vial and prefilled syringe / cartridge manufacturing capacity with additional filling lines and lyophilizers with automated loading and unloading.  The robotic prefilled syringe / cartridge line is highly flexible and can accommodate a broad range of containers in nested tubs.”

Meanwhile at Patheon’s Greenville, North Carolina site, new commercial vial filling and automated visual inspection lines will be installed, while a formulation and process development laboratory – including two lab-scale lyophilizers with smart software – is being built.

And, in Ferentino, Italy “the company is expanding with a new building for development that will have a new vial filling line and lyophilizers with automated loading and unloading,” O’Brien said. “The site expansion also increases its commercial vial filling line and lyophilization capacity with new lines.”

Construction across the three sites is expected to be completed within the next two years.