Thermo Fisher Scientific, the world leader in serving science, has opened a new sterile drug facility in Singapore that will better enable customers to deliver new medicines and vaccines in the Asia-Pacific market. The new facility also marks a significant milestone and investment in pandemic preparedness for Singapore, which is fast emerging as a biomedical hub in the Asia-Pacific region.

Established with assistance from the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB), in alignment with the government’s investment in preparedness for future health emergencies, the current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP) facility will provide rapid vaccine fill-finish capabilities along with Thermo Fisher’s end-to-end pharmaceutical development and manufacturing services.

“Singapore’s strengths in manufacturing and connectivity to the region make us a hub for the production and supply of important pharmaceutical drugs to serve Asia’s healthcare needs,” said Png Cheong Boon, Chairman, EDB. “Thermo Fisher Scientific's fill-finish manufacturing facility will enable end-to-end vaccine manufacturing to be carried out in Singapore. This will strengthen our vaccine supply chain resilience and enhance future pandemic preparedness for our region.”

“We are committed to serving as a reliable partner to the Asia-Pacific region and the world,” said Michel Lagarde, executive vice president and chief operating officer at Thermo Fisher Scientific. “This new site is an important extension of Thermo Fisher’s robust sterile fill-finish global network. With this expansion, we are strategically prepared, more than ever, to respond to our customers’ needs by supporting the accelerated delivery of critical vaccines and medicines to patients.”

The new facility includes a high-speed, fully automated aseptic fill-finish line for small and large molecules. This strategic investment in Singapore complements new research capabilities at Thermo Fisher Scientific's Customer Experience Center and Bioprocess Design Center, two other operational lab facilities that showcase the latest bioprocessing, life science, and analytical technologies.

With more than 250 products across diverse fields including molecular biology, genetic analysis and sequencing, chromatography and mass spectrometry, and cell therapy, the Customer Experience Center features an extensive product portfolio for Asia. Additionally, the Bioprocess Design Center provides expertise in bioprocessing and process scale-up to support scientists and engineers with education and customized services to accelerate process development.

“Thermo Fisher has maintained a presence in Singapore for almost five decades, demonstrating an unwavering commitment to the region through significant investments in new facilities,” said Sho-Wen Yeo, Vice President and General Manager of Southeast Asia and Taiwan at Thermo Fisher Scientific. “With enhanced capabilities, we are strategically positioned to proactively manage potential health challenges and help accelerate scientific breakthroughs.”

Together, these sites allow Thermo Fisher to better enable customers to accelerate their research, as well as develop and commercialize new medicines and vaccines in the Asia-Pacific market.

In total, over 2,000 company employees are contributing to Singapore’s evolution as a biomedical hub in the Asia-Pacific region.