Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) announced today that it has opened its $40 million manufacturing facility in Lenexa, Kan.
The facility is dedicated to viral transport media (VTM) but will continue to expand to meet expected demand for COVID-19 testing, according to a news release.
In May, Thermo Fisher received a U.S. government contract to provide a significant quantity of highly specialized VTM for COVID-19 sample collection. The company said it ramped up production in Lenexa from 50,000 units per week to more than 8 million per week since the facility began production in early July.
Thermo Fisher said in the release that the new facility has created more than 300 new full-time jobs as it added 120,000 ft2 of manufacturing capacity.
“Thermo Fisher is proud to support virtually every aspect of the global COVID-19 response and our colleagues in Lenexa have played a key role in those efforts,” Thermo Fisher senior VP & president of specialty diagnostics Gianluca Pettiti said in the release. “Thanks to their hard work, Lenexa significantly increased production of VTM units.
“The team has worked with unrelenting intensity to build out and open a new site in just about six weeks,” Pettiti added. “They understood the urgent national need, accepted the challenge and have delivered for the American people.”
