JOHNSON COUNTY — Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., the world leader in serving science, announced Monday it has received a contract from the U.S. government to provide highly specialized viral transport media (VTM) for COVID-19 sample collection. According to a media release, the VTM is used during collection of patient samples for proper transport to laboratories that can test for the presence of the virus.To ensure accuracy of COVID-19 test results, VTM must be manufactured and dispensed into tubes in an aseptic environment.&nbsp;Thermo Fisher&nbsp;currently produces VTM at its site in&nbsp;Lenexa, Kansas, which meets this requirement, and has ramped production from 50,000 to more than one million VTM-filled tubes per week.Given the significant demand for COVID-19 testing and associated sample collection,&nbsp;Thermo Fisher&nbsp;will expand capacity in&nbsp;Lenexa&nbsp;with a new&nbsp;$40 million&nbsp;facility dedicated to VTM production and quality control. The added capacity and increased efficiencies will allow the company to scale production to more than eight million VTM-filled tubes per week.The company plans to complete the new&nbsp;Lenexa&nbsp;facility in Q3 and expects that it will create approximately 300 new full-time jobs."Our production ramp-up in&nbsp;Lenexa&nbsp;has been impressive and our employees deserve recognition for their ingenuity and dedication to making this happen,"&nbsp;said&nbsp;Marc N. Casper, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Thermo Fisher Scientific. "We have a proven blueprint for high-quality VTM production in&nbsp;Lenexa&nbsp;and look forward to bringing significant new capacity&nbsp;on line&nbsp;as quickly as possible to continue the necessary testing ramp-up in the U.S."Casper added, "We're proud of our role in helping customers to battle the pandemic. With our leading scale and depth of capabilities,&nbsp;Thermo Fisher&nbsp;can support virtually every aspect of the COVID-19 response, which demonstrates what it means to be the world leader in serving science."

Facility in Kan. will create 300 jobs, help COVID-19 testing