SiO2 Materials Science is investing $163 million to expand its production capacity for vaccine vials and syringes in Auburn, Ala. The company will increase the footprint of its existing facility in the Auburn Technology Park West to create a 70,000-sf manufacturing center with additional space for precision injection molding operations. A second molding plant will also be constructed nearby.
AstraZeneca is planning to expand its Hurdsfield campus with the construction of a 95,000-sf pharmaceutical manufacturing facility. Accommodating 72 new employees, Building 52 will occupy a remediated brownfield site in Macclesfield in the United Kingdom. The two-story structure will provide leading-edge formulation suites and production lines for the manufacture of prescription medicines.
Grand River Aseptic Manufacturing (GRAM) opened a $60 million facility for injectable fill-and-finish operations in June of 2020. Tripling GRAM's existing footprint in Grand Rapids, Mich., the 61,500-sf expansion provides a Grade C cleanroom, two formulation suites, and 14,000 sf of shell space to accommodate future growth. The facility leverages leading-edge automation technologies and high-speed instrumentation to accelerate the production of parenteral therapies. The project was delivered in just 20 months by design-build contractor CRB.
The University of Salford will begin construction in summer of 2021 on the £13 million Centre of Excellence in Intelligent Automation and Robotics in the United Kingdom. Designed by 5plus architects, the 21,000-sf facility will provide a variety of instructional spaces as well as specialized labs for robotics, manufacturing, and health technologies. An automotive hub on the ground floor will accelerate the development of new transportation and mobility solutions.
The University of Bath is constructing the £60 million Institute for Advanced Automotive Propulsion Systems (IAAPS) in the Bristol and Bath Science Park in the United Kingdom. Designed by Stride Treglown and DKA, the two-story, 143,000-sf facility will provide sophisticated R&D labs for the creation of ultra-low emission vehicles. The structure will also house testing suites, prototyping workshops, offices, a business incubator, and instructional spaces for engineering training programs.
Sanofi Pasteur is planning to create the Evolutive Vaccine Facility (EVF) in Neuville sur Saône, France. Representing an investment of €490 million over a five-year period, the structure will house a central unit containing several fully digital production modules, enabling the manufacture of four vaccines simultaneously. This modularity will make it possible to prioritize the delivery of a specific vaccine to address crucial public health issues. The company will also invest €120 million to construct a new R&D center in Marcy-l'Etoile.
The International WELL Building Institute launched the WELL Health-Safety Rating for all building and facility types in June of 2020. The evidence-based, third-party-verified rating system focuses on operational policies, maintenance protocols, and design strategies for the post-COVID-19 environment.
AZIsotopes is building a $45 million headquarters and production facility in Bunker Hill, Ind. The project includes the renovation of a 55,000-sf shell building and the construction of a 28,000-sf addtion, which will house a cyclotron vault with walls ten feet thick to isolate the instrument's two 70-ton magnets. Strategically located near Grissom Air Force Base to meet security requirements, the facility will support the creation of medical isotopes for diagnostic testing and clinical treatment. Operations at the site are expected to begin by early 2021.
Access to quick, reliable, and repeated testing has been one of the greatest challenges for businesses, institutions, and individuals during the SARS-CoV-2 crisis. HOK has partnered with Germfree Laboratories to design a mobile testing lab that will help large organizations to meet this urgent need. These self-contained biocontainment facilities can provide advanced, onsite capabilities for any setting.
Intertek, a leading Total Quality Assurance provider to industries worldwide, is enabling companies to re-open for business with the highest health and safety standards in place through its innovative Protek program. Protek harnesses science-based processes and protocols to mitigate environmental health risks in facilities, from existing buildings to new construction projects.
Amid sobering reports of job losses in commercial real estate, coupled with months-long construction shutdowns in major markets like Boston and New York, the life sciences sector is poised to experience a less dramatic disruption, and possibly emerge from the pandemic even stronger than it was before. “COVID is a healthcare crisis, so it needs a healthcare solution, and that life sciences and biophparma solution has to be constructed,” says Kevin Chronley, vice president of A/Z Corp. and immediate past president of the Boston Area Chapter of International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering (ISPE). Chronley predicts that construction will run the gamut from medical device manufacturing and biopharma laboratories to education and training facilities.
Catalent is rapidly scaling up its manufacturing capacity in Bloomington to enable production of a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine candidate that is currently being by developed by Janssen Pharmaceuticals, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson. The collaboration involves joint investment from Catalent and Janssen to enable large-scale commercial manufacturing by January of 2021, with segregated cGMP production lines operating 24/7 to create approximately a billion doses.
POINT Biopharma, a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company based in Canada, is establishing its first U.S. manufacturing center in Indianapolis. The $25 million project includes the purchase and renovation of an existing 77,000-sf, food-grade structure, with additional funds to be invested in sophisticated cleanroom technologies and packaging systems. Slated for occupancy in mid-2020, the GMP facility will support the production of radioligands for POINT's innovative cancer therapies. The next-generation manufacturing center will be fully operational by 2021.
Exyte is partnering with Univercells Technologies to create modular biomanufacturing facilities to meet the increased global demand for vaccines during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Exyte’s prefabricated construction system, ExyCell, is paired with Univercells’ NevoLine biomanufacturing platform which features the scale-X™ fixed-bed bioreactor at its core.
Erlab, a leading provider of air filtration solutions, is presenting a webinar on the mitigation of chemical risks in the laboratory at 10:00 AM BST on May 29, 2020. The one-and-a-half hour session will explore strategies for treating chemical risks at the source to enhance occupant safety and promote operational efficiency.
Visit GoToWebinar to register.
The webinar is also being offered in Spanish, Polish, French, and Maghreb French on separate days:
