Global clinical trial packaging services
Primary packaging, secondary packaging and labeling, and pre-filled syringe assembly solutions and services
Ensuring investigational medicinal product (IMP) integrity, advancing medication adherence, and avoiding delays in research study timelines are all top-of-mind priorities for biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies embarking on the clinical trial journey.
Thermo Fisher Scientific’s pharma services offer global clinical packaging capabilities—which include fully-owned cGMP facilities, patient-centric packaging solutions, and efficient processes and time saving tools—to help prevent potential holdups along the way.
Our facilities support ambient, refrigerated, and frozen packaging capabilities, and are strategically located around the globe to accommodate regional needs. An integrated IT system links these facilities and give clients control over inventory through bar code standards.
Tour Thermo Fisher’s Center of Excellence for primary and secondary packaging, pre-filled syringe assembly, clinical trial labeling, blinding of clinical materials, and cold chain distribution.
Why choose our clinical trial packaging services?
Sponsors rely on Thermo Fisher Scientific’s clinical packaging services for global operational support, packaging and labeling expertise, and flexible clinical supply solutions designed to support complex trial requirements and accelerated timelines.
Key highlights of our capabilities include:
- Proprietary global clinical packaging network
- Integrated packaging and supply support
- Packaging innovation and patient-centric design
- Experience supporting complex dosage forms
- cGMP-compliant clinical packaging facilities
- Established and proven quality systems
See how an emerging biotech company accelerated clinical supply timelines through integrated clinical packaging and supply support.
What our clinical trial packaging services include
Our clinical trial packaging services support global studies with integrated primary packaging, secondary packaging and labeling, pre-filled syringe assembly, comparator packaging, and patient-centric packaging solutions designed to help streamline clinical supply operations.
Primary packaging
- Coldform and thermoform blistering lines in temperature- and humidity-monitored rooms
- In-house tooling creation, online printing, and in-process vision control systems
- Single- and multi-pack capabilities
- Automation that reduces cycle times, as well as containment suites that handle potent or powder compounds supported by dedicated engineering resources
- Automated and manual bottling services
Secondary packaging and labeling
- A wide range of package types, including child-resistant blister cards and bottles, vials, patches, syringes, inhalers, and other devices
- Manual or automated packaging and assembly in rooms with managed temperature requirements
- Label design, translations, and blinding for single-panel and multi-panel, as well as booklet (1-3 panel) and digital labels
Injection device assembly and packaging
- Proven expertise assembling both platform and custom delivery systems, including pre-filled syringes, needle safety devices, auto-injectors, and pen injectors—with the flexibility to support rapid device onboarding
- Precision-controlled assembly and labeling achieved through semi-automated and fully automated production lines, available in both ambient and cold environments
- End-to-end device assembly and packaging under one roof, supported by regionally redundant capabilities to ensure business continuity and supply chain simplicity
- Seamless transition from clinical to commercial manufacturing through reuse of validated assembly recipes, minimizing tech transfer timelines and regulatory hurdles
- Supported by a dedicated in-house packaging design team that quickly delivers custom solutions—from cartons and inserts to trays—tailored to unique product and study requirements
Package engineering
- De novo custom design capabilities for tooling, package design, and fixtures
- Real-time dieline sample production, so each design can be prototyped to ensure manufacturability
- 3D-printing capabilities for rapid prototyping and manufacturing of custom tooling and fixtures
Tamper evident carton
Our latest innovation in clinical packaging: The tamper evident carton, designed to meet the needs of today’s biotech and biopharma markets. Patented in 2024, this solution features a protective carton design and tamper-evident sealing to ensure the safety of your vials.
Key benefits of our tamper evident cartons:
- Eliminates the need for tamper-evident labels and reduces the risk of tamper seals lifting
- Ensures the integrity and security of your vials
- Foam- and glue-free design supports your sustainability goals
- Compatible with storage conditions ranging from ambient temperatures to -80° C
- Fits vial sizes from 2R to 20R, with options for single and booklet labels
Smart packaging (medication adherence solutions)
Smart packaging uses microcircuits to passively measure dosing data and connects to the cloud through technology such as the patient’s smartphone. Cloud-based platforms then use sophisticated algorithms to analyze patient dosing behaviors and flag anything erratic, so site staff can intervene if needed and get patients back on their appropriate regimen.
Smart packaging for medication adherence provides a rich and reliable data set to help better understand patient dosing—making it applicable to most clinical trial designs. It’s especially useful for clinical trials that:
- Require precise insight into time between doses
- Have complex dosing regimens
- Last longer than one year
- Involve long intervals between clinical site visits, such as decentralized clinical trials
Integrated clinical trial packaging and labeling services
Integrated clinical trial labeling and packaging services can help reduce handoffs, simplify coordination across clinical supply workflows, and support consistency from label design through final packaging and distribution activities.
Thermo Fisher’s clinical packaging services include primary packaging, secondary packaging and labeling, comparator packaging, pre-filled syringe assembly, injection packaging support, and global clinical trial supply coordination across multiple dosage forms and study phases.
Our clinical packaging operations support a range of dosage forms including oral solid dose products, injectables, biologics, and pre-filled syringes with packaging configurations tailored to protocol and distribution requirements.
Clinical packaging solutions can support medication adherence through patient-friendly designs, tamper-evident packaging, labeling clarity, dosing organization, and smart packaging technologies designed for clinical trial environments.
Comparator packaging involves sourcing, packaging, labeling, and managing reference products used in clinical trials to support blinded and controlled study designs.
Yes. Thermo Fisher supports global clinical packaging services through a network of cGMP facilities designed to support regional packaging, labeling, storage, and distribution requirements for multinational clinical trials.
Our clinical trial packaging sites
Global network of clinical packaging sites to support both local and global studies
Allentown is our largest ambient and cold packaging, storage and distribution facility for clinical trials.
The site has expanded services to include commercial packaging with serialization, offering primary packaging of oral solid dose for blister packs & bottles, with additional secondary packaging services for syringe / pre-filled syringe / pen / autoinjector assembly and labeling.
Our facility in Mount Prospect, Illinois provides a full suite of clinical supply chain capabilities and solutions from primary and secondary packaging through domestic and international distribution for your ambient/controlled room temperature and cold chain needs.
Our Horsham facility provides automated global distribution and integrated biologic product capabilities.
Comprehensive service lines supporting all aspects of clinical trial supply—primary & secondary packaging, labeling, regulatory support, distribution, returns and destruction.
Our Basel, Switzerland site offers Comprehensive service line supporting all aspects of clinical trial supply—primary & secondary packaging, labeling, regulatory support, distribution, returns and destruction, and comparator sourcing. Additionally the site supports cold chain supplies management and has In-house engineering capabilities for tooling, equipment customization, production automation.
Strategically located in a Free Trade Zone, clinical trial sponsors can realize significant cash flow advantages as there are zero duty and VAT payments imposed on shipments entering Suzhou. Capabilities include Primary and secondary packaging at ambient and refrigerated temperatures, with support for high-potent compound and light-sensitive packaging, in house global labeling service, clinical manufacturing, Clinical ancillary management, pick & pack and distribution services, GMP temperature & RH-controlled storage at ambient (10°C to 20°C and 15°C to 25°C), refrigerated (2°C to 8°C) and frozen (-20°C)
Helpful resources for clinical trial packaging