Thermo Fisher is ready to expand its viral vector production site in Massachusetts once there’s ‘demand for it’

PLAINVILLE, Mass. — Just a year after opening its $180 million viral vector manufacturing site in Massachusetts, Thermo Fisher already has expansion on its mind.

The contract development and manufacturing organization has the ability to “double the production, or even triple the production” at its Plainville site, VP and general manager of viral vector services Cédric Volanti said Tuesday during a media event.

A concrete shell for the future manufacturing expansion exists at the current facility. Executives declined to provide a timeline for the new project, adding that it will be ready “when we see demand for it.”

The facility, which opened in August of last year, can currently produce 12 to 13 products simultaneously, depending on the product, according to Volanti.

It makes viral vectors, a delivery vehicle used in gene therapies. Manufacturing viral vectors is a cumbersome and costly process that’s seen heavy investment in recent years from CDMOs, including Thermo Fisher, which shelled out $1.7 billion in 2019 to take over viral vector specialist Brammer Bio.

Thermo touts its Plainville site as one of the largest viral vector facilities in the world, and the company says it has the capacity to more than double its 55,000 square feet of manufacturing space. Overall, 290,000 square feet of total space in Plainville could become more than 400,000 square feet after expanding, according to Volanti. The building was designed so that construction would not require Thermo to pause any of its manufacturing operations if it decided to expand its operations.

That’s important to customers like Cambridge, MA-based bluebird bio, which manufactures multiple products with Thermo, including its experimental gene therapy lovo-cel in Belgium. The biotech is anticipating an FDA decision in December for lovo-cel in sickle cell disease.

“Shutting down for us right now would not be an option,” bluebird chief commercial and operating officer Tom Klima said. “Selecting a veteran who’s thought ahead like this and doesn’t have to shut things down while they expand is a big key.”

Thermo’s Plainville site is 48 miles from Boston and currently has 180 employees. The plan is to grow the staff to more than 300 people over the next two years, according to a spokesperson. With corporate headquarters in Waltham, the location just outside of Boston, is strategic for Thermo.

“The things at the top of the list are the quality of the work, the consistency of the work, the reliability of the work,” Klima said. “If somebody’s affordable and we can work with a local organization, that’s even better.”

manufacturing
gene therapy
biotech
fda