Thermo Fisher facility completes Singapore’s end-to-end vaccine manufacturing chain

A NEW sterile drug facility has been launched in Singapore by biopharmaceutical giant Thermo Fisher Scientific, representing the final step in enabling the Republic to engage in end-to-end vaccine manufacturing.

The facility in Joo Koon has a high-speed, fully-automated, sterile “fill-finish” line for vaccine production. Fill-finish is the critical step in manufacturing final vaccines and drugs for consumer use.

Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat was the guest of honour at the launch of the plant on Friday (May 19). “This new facility will complement the recent investments by Sanofi and BioNTech by closing the loop on vaccine production locally,” he said, referring to French healthcare group Sanofi’s upcoming vaccine production plant, and German biotech company BioNTech’s planned mRNA facility.

“This will benefit not only Singapore, but the wider Asia-Pacific region when tackling future health crises,” said Heng, who is also Coordinating Minister for Economic Policies.

Covid-19 highlighted biopharma’s critical role in manufacturing vaccines, and the industry remains key to addressing an ageing population and tackling the next global health emergency, he said.

Established with support from the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB), the new Thermo Fisher facility provides rapid vaccine fill-finish capabilities, along with end-to-end pharmaceutical development and manufacturing services.

EDB chairman Png Cheong Boon said: “Singapore’s strengths in manufacturing and connectivity to the region make us a hub for the production and supply of important pharmaceutical drugs to serve Asia’s health-care needs.”

On Friday, Thermo Fisher also launched a Customer Experience Centre showcasing its products, and a Bioprocess Design Centre providing expertise in bioprocessing and process scale-up to support scientists and engineers.

Sho-Wen Yeo, vice-president and general manager of South-east Asia and Taiwan at the company, said: “Thermo Fisher has maintained a presence in Singapore for almost five decades, demonstrating an unwavering commitment to the region through significant investments in new facilities.”

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Announced in October 2020, the plan for the facility was then reported to cost US$130 million, and to create more than 300 jobs.

The new facility extends Thermo Fisher’s sterile fill-finish global network and supports “the accelerated delivery of critical vaccines and medicines”, said Michel Lagarde, chief operating officer and executive vice-president at Thermo Fisher.