Singapore: Thermo Fisher Scientific has opened a new manufacturing plant in Singapore to produce dry powder media (DPM), a crucial cell culture raw material used to manufacture biologics, including vaccines, anti-cancer therapeutics, and others.

The facility is the first-ever cell culture DPM production site in Singapore and is designed to address the increased global requirements from biopharmaceutical companies to mitigate critical raw material supply risks.

Located in Tuas, the 30,800 square feet (2,861 square meters) facility will provide critical manufacturing redundancy of DPM to help ensure a secure and uninterrupted supply to biopharmaceutical customers globally. The facility will also serve as an additional logistics hub for DPM distribution to Asia Pacific customers. According to a recent BCC research report, the DPM market in Asia has been estimated to grow to $220million by 2016, representing a 20 percent compound annual growth rate, the highest in the world for media products.

"Asia continues to be our fastest-growing market and a central contributor to our growth," said Mr Greg Herrema, president, biosciences, Thermo Fisher Scientific. "Our new Singapore facility further strengthens our global presence, expands our manufacturing infrastructure and establishes local production capabilities to meet increased demand for biologic drug discovery and development in Asia."

Featuring state-of-the-art pin milling technology, the new Singapore DPM facility is a cGMP manufacturing plant - mirroring the functionality and quality systems used in Thermo Fisher's DPM facility in the US. The facility and equipment used are in compliance with 21 CFR 820 cGMP, ISO 9001:2000, and ISO 13485:200 guidelines.