Industry News

Colorado State University began building the $53 million Research Innovation Center on its Foothills campus in Fort Collins in December of 2008. Slated for completion in April of 2010, the three-story, 72,000-sf center will be sited in the Judson Harper Research Complex and will house offices, laboratories, and a biotechnology business incubator.

Ortec Inc. completed a $7.2 million expansion of its manufacturing cleanroom facilities in Piedmont, S.C., in December of 2008. The project added 2,600 sf of Class 100,000 cleanroom space for the custom manufacturing of biomaterials and polymers for the medical device and pharmaceutical industries. The expansion also features USP water and cold storage facilities.

Medicago is initiating a $1.5 million expansion of its Quebec City manufacturing facility to support avian flu vaccine production for clinical trials. The 2,500-sf addition will include purification, storage, and cGMP vaccine manufacturing space. Construction will begin in January 2009 and reach completion by year-end 2009. Medicago’s existing building, housing 10,000-sf of BSL-2 space and 3,000-sf of cGMP manufacturing space, will begin production of an H5N1 vaccine for Phase 1 clinical trials in 2009. The new addition will house Phase 2 clinical studies.

Sandia National Laboratories broke ground on the $39.6 million Ion Beam Laboratory in Albuquerque, N.M., in December of 2008. The 27,000-sf facility will enable simulation of the large neutron fluxes created in nuclear explosions. Completion is expected in 2009 with research operations commencing in 2010.

Hemlock Semiconductor Corp., a subsidiary of Dow Corning, will initiate a $1 billion expansion of its manufacturing complex in Saginaw, Mich., in 2009. The project will support the production of monosilane gas, a component of liquid crystal displays and thin film solar cells. Completion is slated for 2011. Hemlock Semiconductor will also build a $1.2 billion facility in Clarksville, Tenn.