Thermo Fisher appoint Process Development Services Director

Thermo Fisher Scientific has appointed Peter McDonald as Process Development Services (PDS) Director at its contract pharmaceutical development and manufacturing campus in Cork.

In this role, Mr McDonald will focus on further strengthening Thermo Fisher’s Process Development offering, building on the site’s excellent process and analytical technical capabilities, as well as developing the talent onsite to attract new development customers.

He will lead a large team of chemists and analysts whose role will be to develop and optimise novel medicines and improve the chemistry process for existing life-changing medicines treating cancer, diabetes, HIV and more.

Speaking on his appointment, he said: “I am thrilled to be stepping into the PDS Director role. The chemists and analysts in our state-of-the-art laboratories and production facilities here in Cork work together to improve chemistry processes for customers, and ultimately patients.

“The team has grown significantly over the past five years to serve a growing portfolio of customers, many of whom are biotechs developing novel chemistries to treat rare diseases.

“The work is really exciting, the team gain incredible experience and I’m looking forward to building on that success.”

Also commenting on the appointment, Edel Collins, general manager of Thermo Fisher’s Cork site said: “Our PDS team has been an integral part of growth and development of our campus.

“Peter is a strong leader for our growing PDS team and he will embody our mission to enable our customers to make the world healthier, cleaner and safer, in his new role.”

Thermo Fisher Scientific’s Cork campus is an active pharmaceutical ingredient development and manufacturing site and is part of its Pharma Services business. Thermo Fisher Scientific recently opened an expanded laboratory at its Cork campus, effectively doubling its capacity that customers can access to develop medicines for cancer, lupus, diabetes, and psoriasis, among other illnesses.