R&D 100 Winner Spotlight: A closer look at Thermo Fisher Scientific’s trio of R&D 100 wins in 2025

Thermo Fisher Scientific earned three 2025 R&D 100 Awards in the Analytical/Test category: the Stellar Mass Spectrometer, the KingFisher PlasmidPro Maxi Processor, and the SteriSEQ Rapid Sterility Testing Kit. According to Thermo Fisher, the Stellar Mass Spectrometer delivers 10x greater sensitivity while analyzing five times more compounds than traditional systems. The KingFisher PlasmidPro Maxi Processor is a fully automated maxi-scale plasmid purification system. It delivers high-quality plasmid DNA in under 75 minutes. (For a deeper look at the PlasmidPro, see our earlier coverage.) Meanwhile, the SteriSEQ Rapid Sterility Testing Kit delivers sterility results in under five hours using qPCR, supporting earlier contamination detection in biopharmaceutical production.

At the R&D 100 gala, we caught up with Annie McKenzie, senior director and general manager of pharma analytics at Thermo Fisher Scientific. “It’s a huge honor for the organization,” McKenzie said, “and really speaks to the impact we want to have, helping our customers make the world healthier, cleaner and safer.”

All three products were recognized in the Analytical/Test category, which highlights breakthroughs in instrumentation, imaging, testing systems and life sciences technologies.