Thermo Fisher Scientific has expanded its pharma services footprint with two new state-of-the-art facilities in Rheinfelden and Weil am Rhein, Germany. The new sites will bring much-needed clinical supply chain continuity and specialized cold chain and cryogenic expertise across Europe and globally.

The 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, representing 20% of the global clinical trials market.

These facilities feature new and highly automated technologies to optimize efficiency and quality across the pharma services supply chain. The Rheinfelden site opens in late December 2020 and the Weil am Rhein site will open in January 2021.

In Rheinfelden, the new 86,000-sq.-ft. facility significantly increases the company's footprint for secondary packaging, storage, logistics and distribution of clinical supplies to investigator sites. The site will serve as a strategic logistics hub for shipping by road or air and its central location will help expedite clinical trial therapies to patients.

In Weil am Rhein, the new 9,600-sq.-ft. 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 site will feature -80°C freezers, liquid nitrogen (LN2) cryogenic storage tanks and walk-in 2-8°C and -20°C cold storage technology.

"With today's complex and changing landscape, assurance of clinical trial supplies has never been more critical," said Mike Shafer, senior vice president and president, pharma services, Thermo Fisher Scientific. "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. Ultimately, we are enabling our customers to make the world healthier by bringing new medicines to patients with exceptional speed, efficiency and quality."