Industry News

Stempeutics Research opened a 5,000-sf stem cell research facility on the campus of Manipal University in India in July of 2008. Located at Shirdi Sai Baba Cancer Hospital, the cGMP laboratory will support therapeutics research and production with two Class 10,000 cleanrooms. The facility is designed to USA Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy (FACT) standards and employ cGTP (current Good Tissue Practice) manufacturing processes.

IBM is planning a $1.5 billion expansion of its research and manufacturing operations in New York State. IBM will invest $400 million at the University at Albany’s College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering as well as initiating an extensive expansion of its East Fishkill chip manufacturing and research facility. Additionally, a packaging plant will be constructed in upstate New York. Completion of IBM’s statewide expansion is expected by 2011.

Monsanto broke ground on its $6 million Learning Center in Gothenburg, Neb., in July of 2008. The 25,000-sf facility will support agricultural implementation of Monsanto’s grain hybrids. The project includes expansion of the company’s existing Gothenburg research facility and the creation of test plots. Completion is slated for April of 2009. 

The United Kingdom’s Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) released £397 million in research facility funding in July of 2008. The Large Facilities Capital Fund awards include:

Dow Water Solutions, part of The Dow Chemical Company, will construct the Water Technology Development Center in Tarragona, Spain. The $15 million facility will support research and development for Dow's membrane, ultrafiltration, and desalination technologies to create sustainable water supplies. The center is slated for occupancy by year-end 2009 and will house 25 researchers. Acciona Agua will design and build the facility.