Fisher Clinical Services to come up in Ahmedabad

Ahmedabad: Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc, the Fortune-300 $10-billion global leader serving science, announced commencement of its new, full-service clinical packaging and distribution facility here, which is expected to commence operation in January 2009.

This is Thermo Fisher’s 20th facility in India, called Fisher Clinical Services, on which the company has invested $17 million. The facility, located in the Zydus Cadila-developed Pharmez, the pharma SEZ near Ahmedabad, would support the growing demand for bio-pharma services.

The 1.50-lakh sq ft facility would focus on packaging global distribution and logistics management of tightly regulated pharmaceutical samples to patients participating in clinical trials across the globe.

It complements the company’s existing clinical services operations in the US, Europe and Asia, said Mr Marijn E. Dekkers, President and CEO, Thermo Fisher Scientific.

The company now has the largest presence in India of any company in its industry, with more than 600 employees and 20 facilities. It has invested $100 million in India since 2000, made two acquisitions, and built the Ahmedabad facility.

It hopes to attract 10 to 15 major global pharmaceutical companies for clinical trials in the next 3 to 5 years, and is expecting $125 million worth of revenue in 2009-10.

Already, Thermo Fisher commands a 40 per cent share globally in this sector, having about 900 trials in progress, being conducted by different companies.

In the next couple of years, it would set up another arm, Lancaster Laboratories, at the same premises here as a sister service organisation to take up either design service, project management or IT services.