Industry News

Enanta Pharmaceuticals Inc. is moving its headquarters in fall 2001 to 45,000-sf in Watertown, Mass. Enanta utilizes peptide morphing to develop antiviral drugs and currently has 56 employees.

The Food and Drug Administration’s new 350,000-sf Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition opened in October. The $62.5-million life sciences and chemistry lab facility consolidates three offices from the D.C. area, and accommodates approximately 950 employees. Planning and construction of the building took four years. The general contractor for the project is Tomkins.

Western Michigan University is building a 50,000-sf Paper Technology Pilot Plant at its new Business-Technology-Research Park. Scheduled for completion in December 2001,  it will be the first in a series of new buildings that will comprise the new College of Engineering and Applied Sciences Complex. Architect for the pilot plant is HarleyEllis, with design consultant Rosetti Architects of Birmingham, Mich.

Underwriters Laboratories Inc. has opened a telecommunications equipment testing facility in Research Triangle Park. The 4,500-sf network equipment building system features an earthquake simulator providing tremors up to 7.0 on the Richter scale that shakes equipment on a hydraulic table. The facility also houses an altitude simulator (up to 20,000 ft) and temperature extremes ranging from 40 to 180 degrees Celsius.  

Abgenix has acquired 72,000-sf of research and development space adjacent to its headquarters in Ardenwood Corporate Park in Fremont. This expansion of Abgenix's R&D space will provide facilities for developing antibody therapeutic products.