Thermo Fisher Scientific is opening a new manufacturing plant in Singapore to produce dry powder media (DPM), a cell culture raw material used to manufacture biologics including vaccines and anticancer therapeutics. Thermo says the facility is the first-ever cell culture DPM production site in Singapore and is designed to address the increased global requirements from biopharmaceutical companies to mitigate critical raw material supply risks.

The company says the 30,800-square-foot (2,861-square-meter) facility, located in Tuas, will provide critical manufacturing redundancy of DPM to help ensure a secure and uninterrupted supply to biopharmaceutical customers globally; it is also a cGMP manufacturing plant. The facility will also act as an additional logistics hub for DPM distribution to Asia Pacific customers.

“Asia continues to be our fastest-growing market and a central contributor to our growth,” Greg Herrema, president of Biosciences at Thermo Fisher Scientific, said in a statement. “Our new Singapore facility further strengthens our global presence, expands our manufacturing infrastructure and establishes local production capabilities to meet increased demand for biologic drug discovery and development in Asia.”

Thermo is expanding in other ways, too: In addition to acquiring Life Technologies in April, it established the China Innovation Center in Shanghai in June, investing $9.5 million to support its R&D organization, which is expected to add 200 to 300 engineers during the next two to three years. According to Thermo, the China Innovation Center supports product engineering, development, and training to meet the specific needs of customers in China and Asia-Pacific.

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