Thermo Fisher Scientific, the world leader in serving science, is expanding its site in Greenville for sterile drug product development and commercial manufacturing of critical medicines, therapies, and vaccines.
The approximate $500 million investment was announced in December 2020. As part of the investment in Greenville, about 500 new roles will be hired over next 12 to 24 months. These jobs will add to its existing workforce of more than 1,500 employees.
“We are excited by the news of Thermo Fisher’s investment in their Greenville facility which further strengthens Greenville and Pitt County’s legacy as a hub of pharmaceutical production,” said Steve Weathers, president and CEO of the Greenville – Eastern North Carolina (ENC) Alliance. “Our area has more than 2,000 people working in pharmaceutical manufacturing occupations which is a concentration 12 times higher than the United States.”
The 1.5 million-square-foot Greenville site is a multi-purpose pharmaceutical manufacturing and packaging campus with 29 buildings on 640 acres. The expansion will include a new standalone 130,000-square-foot facility with two live virus filling lines which will be operational in 2022.
“This announcement shows the strength of Thermo Fisher in the sterile drug development sector and will augment what is already a world class facility. The company’s investments will result in a large number of new, well-paying jobs for citizens of Greenville, Pitt County, and eastern North Carolina,” said Greenville – ENC Alliance vice president of business development, Brad Hufford.
The site will also add six new lines in 2021 and 2022, including commercial scale liquid filling lines and a development line for liquid and lyophilized (freeze-dried) drug products.
"We have continued to invest strategically in capacity, technology and expertise across our global network so we can accelerate innovation and enhance productivity for our customers," said Mike Shafer, senior vice president and president, pharma services, Thermo Fisher Scientific. "This has enabled us to respond quickly and support our customers with unprecedented scale and depth of capabilities to meet high demand for new therapies and vaccines. By simplifying the supply chain and solving complex manufacturing challenges, we shorten development timelines in order to get high-quality medicines to patients, faster."
In addition to the Greenville site, other sites preparing for expansion include locations in Swindon, United Kingdom and Ferentino and Monza, Italy. These expansions and investments will add 15 development and current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP) commercial production lines, leveraging Thermo Fisher's robust quality standards as well as supporting a range of capabilities including live virus, aseptic liquid, and lyophilized vial filling.
