Thermo Fisher expands pharma services across Europe

Thermo Fisher Scientific has expanded its pharma services footprint in Germany with two new facilities.

The new sites in Rheinfelden and Weil am Rhein are expected to bring clinical supply chain continuity and specialised cold chain and cryogenic expertise across Europe and the globe. The facilities will feature highly automated technologies to optimise efficiency and quality across the pharma services supply chain. The Rheinfelden site will open in late December 2020 and the Weil am Rhein site will open in January 2021. 

The Rheinfelden site will help increase Thermo Fisher’s footprint for secondary packaging, storage, logistics and the distribution of clinical supplies to investigator sites across Europe. The company’s Weil am Rhein site will provide ultra-low temperature, cryogenic storage and cold chain expertise for clinical supply chain needs for cell and gene-based therapies, including Covid-19 vaccine candidates

The sites are being launched in response to the expected growth of the clinical supply chain and logistics market in Europe, which is expected to double by 2025. Around 4,000 clinical trials are conducted each year across Europe, according the European Medicines Agency, making up 20% of the global market for clinical trials.

"With today's complex and changing landscape, assurance of clinical trial supplies has never been more critical," said Mike Shafer, senior vice president and president, pharma services, Thermo Fisher Scientific. "These facilities combined with our established regulatory expertise will give customers the continuity and in-region capabilities to support clinical trials across multiple therapy areas. Ultimately, we are enabling our customers to make the world healthier by bringing new medicines to patients with exceptional speed, efficiency and quality."