Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE: TMO), the world leader in serving science, announced it has opened its new $17 million clinical services facility in Ahmedabad, India. The 150,000-square-foot facility will support growing demand for biopharma services in the region, serving as a hub for packaging, global distribution and logistics management of tightly regulated pharmaceutical samples to patients participating in clinical trials. It complements the company’s existing clinical services operations in the U.S., Europe and Asia.

“We continue to make the investments required to grow our business – in this case expanding our capabilities to support growing clinical research and development markets in India,” said Marijn E. Dekkers, president and chief executive officer of Thermo Fisher Scientific, speaking at the facility opening. “With the added capacity now available to us with this new facility, we can offer our customers a higher level of technology, quality and expertise to facilitate clinical trials that serve the needs of both local and multi-national pharmaceutical companies.”

Thermo Fisher Scientific has had a direct presence in India since 2000, and in recent years has accelerated its expansion. In 2005, the company opened a state-of-the-art demonstration laboratory in Mumbai that offers customers hands-on experience with a range of laboratory solutions. The company has since added sales and manufacturing facilities to support growing markets, including biopharma services and biospecimen storage, life sciences research and environmental analysis. Thermo Fisher also completed two acquisitions that build on its presence in Mumbai. Qualigens Fine Chemicals, India’s leading supplier of laboratory chemicals, was acquired in 2007, and the analytical technologies and environmental instrumentation divisions of Chemito, the country’s largest local supplier of analytical instruments for life sciences and environmental monitoring applications, was added earlier this year.

Thermo Fisher now has the largest presence in India of any company in its industry, with more than 600 employees and 20 facilities, including the new full-service clinical packaging and distribution facility in Ahmedabad.