Logan’s single-use run: Thermo Fisher expands Utah bioprocess container site

Thermo Fisher will strengthen its single-use equipment supply chain by upping capacity of 2D and 3D BioProcess Containers (BPCs) at its facility in Logan, Utah.

Thermo Fisher has produced single-use BPCs and fluid transfer assemblies – designed for use in the development and manufacturing of therapeutics and vaccines – at the Logan site for 20 years.

This week, the life sciences vendor held a virtual event to celebrate an expansion at the site adding 20,000 square feet of additional clean room space.

Image: iStock/oatawa

“With the site expansion, Thermo Fisher has added additional 2D and 3D chamber manufacturing equipment to the Logan Biocenter in order to support the continuous growth of single-use products in the biopharma industry,” a spokesperson told Bioprocess Insider, adding the firm has also installed extra assembly lines to support the demand.

Thermo Fisher is not disclosing the size of the investment or when the expansion will be operational.

However, once the expansion is completed, “Thermo Fisher Scientific will have increased the Logan manufacturing capacity for 2D and 3D BPC chambers by about 70% and BPC assembly capacity by 45%.” This, we were told, will result in shorter lead-times and add redundant supply points to help customers’ business continuity planning.

“Our customers rely on us to deliver the highest quality products to them on a daily basis and, with this expansion, we will deliver unsurpassed supply assurance through a robust single-use technologies (SUT) manufacturing network to meet the demand for these technologies.”

Bulk Logan

The Logan site serves as Thermo Fisher’s main center for its single-use technology business.

In 2014, the site employed around 400 people, the firm told us, but “since then, it has grown to represent a milestone in the rapid expansion of the SUT market, employing more than 1,400 people.”

Thermo Fisher’s single-use biomanufacturing network also includes production sites in Millersburg, (Pennsylvania), Cramlington (UK), and Suzhou (China). A facility in Singapore is also being established.

Expansions

The news is the latest in a series of expansions announced this year by Thermo Fisher across its portfolio of life science tools and services.

These include the $130 million Singapore plant, which will include fill/finish capacity, announced in October; a biomanufacturing plant in Switzerland added in June; an expansion of its viral vector capabilities in Massachusetts; and the establishment of a cell therapy development and manufacturing collaboration center in Princeton, New Jersey.

And just this week, the firm announced the construction of a facility at its site in Carlsbad, California, expanding clinical and commercial capabilities for cGMP plasmid DNA used as a raw material in cell and gene-based therapies.

In fact, in October, Thermo Fisher’s CEO Marc Casper announced net capital expenditures expected to be approximately $1.5 billion for 2020, with $700 million extra being allotted to support a COVID-19 tailwind.