Bioprocessing

SAB Biotherapeutics will occupy 41,000 sf in University of South Dakota's Discovery District in Sioux Falls. SAB, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, will locate its corporate headquarters, research labs, and a cGMP suite in the 84,000-sf building, which was designed by Perkins+Will and Architecture Incorporated. Alumend, a subsidiary of Avera, will occupy 7,500 sf in the $31 million facility, which will also house the offices of the USD Discovery District and 20,000 sf of leasable space.

Cambrex Corporation, a leading manufacturer of small molecule innovator and generic Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs), completed an expansion of its pilot plant in High Point in May of 2018. The project included the installation and commissioning of a fourth reactor suite, increasing the site's capacity by approximately 30 percent. The 400-sf suite houses two 2,000-liter glass-lined reactors and a Hastelloy C22 filter dryer, allowing the manufacture of batch sizes between 10 and 100 kilograms under cGMP conditions.

Global biopharmaceutical company Bristol-Myers Squibb opened a 62,000-sf biologics discovery center on its Redwood City campus in April of 2018. Designed by Stantec to support the development of new cancer therapies, the facility provides research labs and 115 perimeter workstations in an open office environment. The building is illuminated by abundant natural light and offers huddle rooms and conference rooms adjoining the main circulation area to enhance collaboration.

Zoetis broke ground in April of 2018 on a 463,000-sf animal vaccine center in Suzhou, China. Combining research and development operations with integrated manufacturing and supply, the facility will produce vaccines for swine, cattle, fish, and companion animals. Offering sophisticated innovation suites and certified GMP laboratories, the project will support research on disease threats prevalent in China with a primary focus on aquaculture.

Lonza opened a 300,000-sf cell and gene therapy manufacturing center in April of 2018 in Pearland, Texas. The facility features eight independent cGMP modular cleanrooms with single-use bioreactors and a fully segregated fill/finish suite. Supporting the development of new therapies from initial concept through the pre-clinical, clinical, and commercialization phases, the integrated building includes research labs, offices, manufacturing and production spaces, and support.

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) is expanding its campus in Barnard Castle in the United Kingdom with the construction of a $130 million liquid biopharmaceuticals production plant. The 124,000-sf aseptic sterile facility will make injectable liquids for the treatment of respiratory and autoimmune diseases and is slated for completion by November of 2019. Building Information Modeling (BIM) and offsite construction methodologies are being implemented in the delivery of the project, which includes the specification that the building can be replicated anywhere in the world.

Aldevron is building a $30 million plasmid manufacturing facility in Fargo, N.D. The 70,000-sf project will feature 17,000 sf of modular cGMP cleanrooms, as well as ISO 8 processing suites with ISO 7 suites for cell banking and fermentation. The facility will feature airlocked, unidirectional personnel flow within the cGMP production area, single-pass air for all product dispensing and cell banking suites, and integrated facility and environmental monitoring systems.

The International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering announced the category winners for 2018 ISPE Facility of the Year Awards in March of 2018. The awards include: 

Sanofi Genzyme is expanding its presence in the Framingham Technology Park in Massachusetts where its $80 million, 72,000-sf biomanufacturing facility is currently under construction. A two-story, 14,821-sf addition to the project will enable Sanofi Genzyme to increase its production capacity for advanced therapeutics.

ADC Biotechnology is planning to build a 70,000-sf bioconjugation facility in Deeside in the United Kingdom. Featuring GMP production suites, the $11 million integrated facility will support the manufacture of antibody drug conjugates for all clinical phases as well as small-scale commercial production. The project will include space for R&D, process development, quality control, and warehousing. Operations will commence by December of 2018.

Sartorius Stedim Cellca is constructing a $35 million Cell Culture Technology Center in Ulm, Germany. Located at Science Park III in Eselsberg, the lab and office facility will support the development of cell culture and protein production technologies. Completion is expected in 2019. 

SAB Biotherapeutics began construction in August of 2017 on an agricultural production facility for antibody therapeutics. The 80-acre ‘pharm’ will accommodate transgenic cattle which produce plasma in reaction to a vaccine, providing a source of natural human polyclonal antibodies. The facility is located adjacent to SAB’s existing corporate headquarters and is slated for completion in spring of 2018.

Merck and Stelis Biopharma opened a joint bioprocess scale-up lab in May of 2017 in Bengaluru, India. Located in the Jigani industrial park, the facility will provide end-to-end solutions from process development to scale-up manufacturing for pre-clinical, clinical, and commercial supply of biological APIs (active pharmaceutical ingredients). A cGMP manufacturing plant featuring Merck's portfolio of Mobius® bioprocessing equipment is also under construction at the site. 

Samsung Biologics is constructing a 1.3 million-sf pharmaceutical production facility in the Songo International Business District in Incheon, South Korea. Accommodating twelve 15-liter bioreactors, the five-story facility will be the world’s largest biologics manufacturing plant when it opens in 2018. Ground was broken on the project in November of 2015.

Just Biotherapeutics is integrating PODs® made by G-CON Manufacturing into the construction of its biologics manufacturing building in China. Located in the Hangzhou Economic & Technology Development Area (HEDA), the cGMP plant will utilize the prefabricated cleanroom units to create a highly flexible and efficient facility. Completion is expected by early 2018.