Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., the world leader in serving science, announced it is expanding capacity for viral vector development and manufacturing services with construction of a new commercial manufacturing site in Plainville, Mass, US.

The $180 million project will more than double the company's commercial viral vector capacity to support increasing demand for the development and manufacture of gene therapies and vaccines.

Construction of the new 290,000-square-foot facility is expected to be completed in 2022. The project will add more than 200 jobs and complement the company's new or recently expanded capacity in Lexington and Cambridge, Mass., and Alachua, Fla.

The Plainville site will offer a flexible and scalable configuration of laboratory and production suites co-located with adjacent warehousing and office space. An onsite engineering laboratory will help customers develop turnkey production platforms that enable them to rapidly transition to commercial-scale operations when ready. As with its other viral vector development and manufacturing sites, Thermo Fisher's Plainville site will attract a diverse workforce of scientists, quality control specialists and production teams.

Thermo Fisher strategically selected Plainville to capitalize on its expertise at other Massachusetts locations and draw upon the strong talent pool in the Greater Boston area. The state-of-the-art facility will feature digital connectivity and capabilities that enable operational efficiencies, high quality, data visibility and advanced operator training.