Thermo Fisher boosts clinical supply chain and distribution services in Europe

Two new facilities in Germany will provide clinical supply and cold chain services to support growing demand

According to the European Medicines Agency (EMA), today's clinical supply chain and logistics market in Europe is expected to double by 2025 and more than triple by 2030. Approximately 4,000 clinical trials are conducted each year in Europe, which is 20% of the global clinical trials market.

The Rheinfelden site, which opens later this month, and the Weil am Rhein site, scheduled to open in January 2021, will, therefore, bring much-needed clinical supply chain continuity, and specialized cold chain and cryogenic expertise.

The new 86,000-sq. ft (8,000-m2) facility in Rheinfelden, significantly increases the company's footprint for secondary packaging, storage, logistics and distribution of clinical supplies to investigator sites across Europe.

Featuring highly automated technology in a fully scalable, mixed-use space, the site will serve as a strategic logistics hub for shipping by road or air. Furthermore, its central location will help expedite clinical trial therapies to patients.

In Weil am Rhein, the new 9,600-sq. ft (890-m2) cryocenter provides specialized ultra-low-temperature, cryogenic storage and cold chain expertise for clinical supply chain needs for cell and gene-based therapies, including COVID-19 vaccine candidates.

The cryocenter will support ultra-low temperature storage, packaging, labeling, and distribution required by vaccine and cell and gene therapy innovators. The site will feature -80 °C freezers, liquid nitrogen (LN2) cryogenic storage tanks and walk-in 2–8 °C and -20 °C cold storage technology.

The new Rheinfelden and Weil am Rhein facilities are strategically located in the Baden region of Germany and in close proximity to the company's existing clinical services sites in Basel, Switzerland, and Horsham, UK, as well as to its dedicated cell and gene therapy facilities in Bishop's Stortford and Stevenage, UK.

Mike Shafer, senior vice president and president, pharma services, Thermo Fisher Scientific, said: "These facilities, combined with our established regulatory expertise, will give customers the continuity and in-region capabilities to support clinical trials across multiple therapy areas."