On Sept. 15, 2020, Thermo Fisher Scientific announced it was investing more than $140 million to further expand its laboratory plastics consumables production to support significant global demand for COVID-19 testing, as well as development and manufacturing of therapies and vaccines.

The rapid increase in production related to COVID-19 testing, and development and manufacturing of therapies and vaccines, has created historic demand for laboratory plastics, including pipette and automation tips, storage tubes and plates, transfer pipettes, and packaging vials and bottles. To support these needs, Thermo Fisher is creating more than 1,000 jobs across manufacturing sites globally, increasing automation capabilities and optimizing warehouse and sterilization capacity to improve supply chain agility. Among the Thermo Fisher sites currently being expanded are Rochester, N.Y.; Petaluma, Calif.; Monterrey and Tijuana, Mexico; and Joensuu, Finland.Thermo Fisher offers an extensive range of laboratory plastics, including Thermo Scientific Nalgene and Nunc plasticware and the Thermo Scientific Manual and Electronic Pipetting Systems. From bottles, beakers, funnels and tubes to pipettes, tips and diagnostic plates, Thermo Fisher consumables support critical COVID-19 work globally and include sample collection vials for diagnostic test kits, pipettes for test processing, lab essentials for research into therapies and vaccines, lab plastics to support clinical and epidemiological studies, and materials for vaccine production and biobanking.