NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) — Thermo Fisher Scientific today announced it will be building a new manufacturing facility in China as part of its goal to expand its presence in Asia-Pacific.
The facility will be housed within the Suzhou Science and Technology Town and is scheduled to be completed in early 2012. There, laboratory instruments, equipment, and consumables will be developed and manufactured for China's growing life sciences markets.
The new facility comes on the heels of other initiatives by Thermo Fisher in China as part of its efforts to grow its footprint in that market. During the past 12 months, the company has opened a second demonstration laboratory in Beijing and its new China Technology Center in Shanghai, it said.
The company now employs more than 1,400 in China. Revenues in China grew more than 14 percent year over year in 2010, and is now Thermo Fisher's third-largest country in terms of revenue, the company added.
"China is undergoing tremendous changes that impact its population, from healthcare to the environment to food safety, creating new opportunities for investment and growth," said Marc Casper, president and CEO of Thermo Fisher, in a statement. "By bringing Suzhou online to complement our existing facilities, we continue to increase our depth of capabilities and strengthen our competitive advantage in the region."
On Monday, Life Tech announced the launch of its new Asian distribution center in Singapore to grow its footprint in Asia-Pacific.