Thermo Fisher Scientific recently held a grand opening of its new manufacturing facility in Mebane, N.C. Thanks to advanced automation, the facility is reported to be capable of producing 96 pipette tips every 12 seconds and 5,000 finished assemblies per hour. (Photo: Thermo Fisher Scientific/Business Wire)
Its new Manufacturing Center of Excellence, recently opened in North Carolina, will be capable of producing more than 40 million laboratory pipettes per week, the company said.
WALTHAM, Mass.—Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., recently opened its manufacturing center of excellence facility in Mebane, North Carolina, stating that it will be capable of producing at least 40 million laboratory pipette tips per week.
The new 375,000-square-foot, carbon neutral site is expected to help ensure that “life-saving medicines and therapies continue to be developed and produced in the U.S. for decades to come,” the company said in a release.
Pipette tips are critical tools for research and diagnostics, enabling precise liquid handling in high-volume applications such as disease studies and diagnostic testing.
“As a global leader in life sciences manufacturing, we’re proud to serve as a growth engine for the American economy and provide our customers with a strong and agile supply chain that enables them to advance human health,” said Erica Hirsch, president, laboratory chemicals, Thermo Fisher Scientific, in a statement. “The opening of our Mebane site is a testament to our larger strategy to strengthen our manufacturing capabilities in the U.S. and support continued innovation and expanded growth in North Carolina, building on the strong foundation we’ve already established in this state.”
Thermo Fisher said it manufactures its pipette tips with high-quality materials and strict quality controls to ensure accuracy, reduce contamination, and deliver consistent performance. The new Mebane site is built for efficiency, with advanced automation that produces 96 tips every 12 seconds and 5,000 finished assemblies per hour. Designed for seamless operations, it also features automated packaging and shipping to meet growing customer demand, the company said.
“Thermo Fisher Scientific’s new facility strengthens North Carolina’s leadership in the biotech sector and strengthens our domestic supply chain,” said North Carolina Governor Josh Stein, in a statement. “I am proud to welcome this global company to Mebane as it expands its North Carolina presence with 100 good-paying jobs.”
The new Mebane site has hired 40 people and is expected to add 50 jobs in manufacturing, engineering, and business operations. Thermo Fisher currently employs approximately 7,800 colleagues across 13 sites in North Carolina, including a center of excellence for laboratory equipment in Asheville, three life sciences manufacturing sites in Durham, pharmaceutical manufacturing sites in Greenville and High Point, and a Raleigh distribution center.
The site is the result of a $192.5 million contract, in coordination with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), awarded in 2021. In addition to investing $1 billion in R&D in the U.S. annually, Thermo Fisher stated that it has more than doubled in size in the United States since 2017, and now employs more than 50,000 people in the states.