Thermo Fisher Scientific Builds New Plant in Vilnius in Four Months; will also produce reagents for COVID-19 vaccines | Deal

In the new 5.5 thousand. kv. The building will produce more reagents for companies developing mRNA-based therapies, including COVID-19 vaccines.

Investments in the building amounted to 40 million. and the construction and installation lasted 4 months.

“This development contributes significantly to efforts to manage the global COVID-19 pandemic: the new production capacity will allow manufacturers of coronavirus vaccines to receive the necessary reagents more efficiently,” said Algimantas Markauskas, CEO of Thermo. Fisher Scientific Baltics.

The mRNA-type vaccines against COVID-19 are manufactured by Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna, but A.Markauskas has not confirmed that reagents are supplied to these companies.

“Cooperation agreements with clients are a trade secret. I can only say something, without naming specific names, that we work with the vast majority of manufacturers dealing with mRNA vaccines. And even only Eaten but also for the treatment of other oncological diseases ”, the director of the company told the press.

True, A.Markauskas noted that the vaccine itself will not be produced in Lithuania.

“The vaccine is produced by pharmaceutical companies, in Lithuania we only produce necessary components for pharmaceutical companies. But we do not produce the vaccine itself ”, he assured.

Production capacity will increase

A.Markauskas also did not answer the question of what exactly is the production capacity and how many components can be supplied to vaccine companies. He said demand was high and “capacity is running low.”

“We plan to further expand the production of these products in Vilnius. We look at market dynamics, see the need for the vaccine, and plan for further capacity building. We will not build a new factory yet. We buy and install new equipment and hire new staff in existing buildings. It is a deliberate step-by-step development, responding to market dynamics, where there are many unknowns, “he said, adding that he could not reveal more information.

Furthermore, according to A. Markkauskas, it should not be said that vaccine production and supply is stagnant.

“Until now, the world has not produced any product on the market in such volumes and at such speeds. Billions of doses. The glass bottle is generally ignored until they are missing. No one has produced billions of glass bottles so far. For humanity and biotechnology production, these speeds and volumes are an absolutely new and unique situation ”, he explained.

Finally, the head of the company stressed that under normal conditions a new production building would be built for at least 2 years. Meanwhile, this time the project had to be implemented in less than 4 months.

A.Markauskas said that the construction work of the new factory was carried out in 3 shifts. A total of 60 designers, builders and 70 engineers participated in the project. General Contractor – Caverion Lietuva.

“Other companies work the same way. If you stop somewhere and it doesn’t exactly coincide with the weeks, in the perspective of the month, what seemed to be promised, I wouldn’t call it a traffic jam. I would call it a huge pace, which doesn’t it is totally controlled, “said A. Markauskas.

Will contribute to vaccination in Lithuania

The expansion of production capacity is estimated to have created nearly 150 new jobs for biotechnologists, chemists, quality assurance and logistics professionals. Currently, 1.3 thousand people work in various roles at the Vilnius branch. staff, including 160 scientists and researchers.

It is said to be one of the largest private research and development centers in Central and Eastern Europe.

The company began producing reagents for COVID-19 tests last spring.

At the virtual inauguration, President Gitanas Nausėda highlighted that the components of the vaccines manufactured in Lithuania are returning to Lithuania in the form of vaccines.

“Yes, production in our country indirectly brings us closer to victory against a pandemic,” he said.

The President noted that the development of Thermo Fisher Scientific’s production capacity symbolically coincided with efforts across the European Union to acquire public immunity against COVID-19 as soon as possible.

MRNA vaccines are manufactured by Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna

Information RNA (mRNA) is the RNA that carries information from the cell nucleus about the original structure of a protein to the site of protein synthesis.

MRNA-based vaccines have “learned” the body to make proteins found on the surface of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, and eventually to recognize them and produce antibodies to help fight COVID-19.

Vaccines and therapeutic solutions based on mRNA technology are being developed to treat different diseases, such as oncological, infectious, allergic or rare diseases. Vaccines are currently being developed against diseases such as influenza, Zika, cytomegalovirus, HIV, various forms of cancer (melanoma, prostate cancer, breast cancer, kidney carcinoma) and other diseases.

A.Markauskas said that the company produces nucleotides, building blocks, from which a molecule is synthesized, which is then found in the body. Also enzymes that catalyze the reaction.

“The pharmaceutical company and its scientists are creating a plasmid, a DNA molecule that encodes the necessary information that scientists obtain to use as the basis for a vaccine. An mRNA molecule is then made from our components, which, after proper purification and formulation, is converted into a vaccine. In other words, we also provide building blocks and tools so that the chain can be done as needed, ”he explained.

The development of COVID-19 vaccines already started in 2020. in January, as soon as the genetic sequence of the new virus was scanned.

Vaccines have been developed at an unprecedented rate: Phase I clinical trials began in March.

2020 In December, the first mRNA-type vaccines against COVID-19 (Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna) were approved.