WALTHAM, Mass. , Sept. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE: TMO), the world leader in serving science, today announced it is investing more than $140 million to further expand its laboratory plastics consumables production to support significant global demand for COVID-19 testing, as well as development and manufacturing of therapies and vaccines.

"Early in the pandemic, we quickly joined forces with governments, public health agencies and industry to increase capacity across our laboratory plastics production facilities and address the growing COVID-19 threat," said Fred Lowery, senior vice president and president of Life Sciences Solutions and Laboratory Products at Thermo Fisher Scientific. "However, demand quickly exceeded those early expansion projects, so we began a series of additional expansions to meet the growing needs of our customers. These investments, along with many others across the company, will ensure that our customers have the supplies they need to continue meeting the unprecedented demands of the COVID-19 response."

The rapid increase in production related to COVID-19 testing, and development and manufacturing of therapies and vaccines, has created historic demand for laboratory plastics, including pipette and automation tips, storage tubes and plates, transfer pipettes, and packaging vials and bottles. To support these needs, Thermo Fisher is creating more than 1,000 jobs across manufacturing sites globally, increasing automation capabilities and optimizing warehouse and sterilization capacity to improve supply chain agility.

Among the Thermo Fisher sites currently being expanded are Rochester, N.Y.; Petaluma, Calif.; Monterrey and Tijuana, Mexico; and Joensuu, Finland.

Thermo Fisher offers an extensive range of laboratory plastics, including Thermo Scientific Nalgene and Nunc plasticware and the Thermo Scientific Manual and Electronic Pipetting Systems. From bottles, beakers, funnels and tubes to pipettes, tips and diagnostic plates, Thermo Fisher consumables support critical COVID-19 work globally and include sample collection vials for diagnostic test kits, pipettes for test processing, lab essentials for research into therapies and vaccines, lab plastics to support clinical and epidemiological studies, and materials for vaccine production and biobanking.

For more information about the Thermo Scientific range of laboratory plastic consumables, please visit www.thermofisher.com/backtothelab.

About Thermo Fisher Scientific
Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. is the world leader in serving science, with annual revenue exceeding $25 billion. Our Mission is to enable our customers to make the world healthier, cleaner and safer. Whether our customers are accelerating life sciences research, solving complex analytical challenges, improving patient diagnostics and therapies or increasing productivity in their laboratories, we are here to support them. Our global team of more than 75,000 colleagues delivers an unrivaled combination of innovative technologies, purchasing convenience and pharmaceutical services through our industry-leading brands, including Thermo Scientific, Applied Biosystems, Invitrogen, Fisher Scientific, Unity Lab Services and Patheon. For more information, please visit www.thermofisher.com.

Media Contact Information:
Ron O'Brien
Phone: 781-622-1242
E-mail: ron.obrien@thermofisher.com

Investor Contact Information:
Ken Apicerno
Phone: 781-622-1294
E-mail: ken.apicerno@thermofisher.com

SOURCE Thermo Fisher Scientific