Thermo Fisher Scientific Opens New UK Research and Manufacturing Facility for Cancer Diagnostics and Chromatography Products

The new facility is the largest Thermo Fisher Scientific center in the North of England and one of its biggest in the United Kingdom. Thermo Fisher manufactures products used daily in hospitals and laboratories around the world, helping doctors treat patients and scientists advance human knowledge. Thermo Fisher chose the Northwest of England as home for the new facility due to the strength of the region's academic, hospital, pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry sectors. The new facility has created approximately 60 new jobs, and the total workforce onsite is now more than 200. UK Trade and Investment worked closely with the North West Regional Development Agency to ensure that Thermo Fisher's requirements were met.

The new facility houses Thermo Fisher's Anatomical Pathology and Chromatography Consumables businesses. This includes products and services to improve the detection and diagnosis of cancer and advance research for drug development. In 2009, Thermo Fisher Scientific consolidated operations from locations in California and Eastbourne, UK to Runcorn. The facility's R&D Director has relocated from the U.S. to oversee product development. The Anatomical Pathology business is uniquely positioned to serve the need for new and more effective diagnostic technologies and treatments as cancer rates increase around the world.

The new facility is also a manufacturing center for Thermo Fisher's Chromatography Consumables business. These products are used in laboratories specializing in chromatography and mass spectrometry analysis. They enable detection, quantification and isolation of complex sample mixtures that are commonly encountered in pharmaceutical, environmental, biomedical, chemical, toxicology, forensics and food safety industries. The state-of-the-art technology developed in Runcorn enables the company to meet demands for more specific and sensitive yet robust testing to support its customers.

Giulio Cerroni, the company's vice president of Anatomical Pathology commercial operations in Europe, the Middle East and Asia Pacific, said of the new facility: We are delighted to announce the opening of the new Thermo Fisher Scientific facility in Runcorn, Cheshire. This is an important investment for the company, and we are already considering the next phase of development for the site. As the world leader in serving science, our customers and suppliers rightly expect that we set very high standards in our operations. The new facility in Runcorn demonstrates the company's commitment to better serving our customers by investing in the future of the business.

The new facility was officially opened by Dr. Yuh-geng Tsay, president, Specialty Diagnostics and Dr. Roger Platt, chairman, Northwest Science Council. The ceremony also included presentations by Steven Broomhead, chief executive, NWDA and Thermo Fisher Scientific customers.