Biomedical

The University of Virginia is constructing the $350 million Paul and Diane Manning Institute for Biotechnology in Charlottesville to catalyze breakthroughs in the fields of cellular therapy, gene therapy, nanotechnology, and drug delivery. Designed by Elkus Manfredi Architects, the flexible building will provide 355,809 sf of space for leading-edge laboratories, core facilities, advanced manufacturing suites, and clinical environments.

Breakthrough Properties completed construction in November of 2025 on One Helix in the Netherlands. Strategically sited within the campus of Amsterdam University Medical Center, the purpose-built research facility will leverage connections with the surrounding academic, life sciences, and biopharma ecosystem to catalyze life-changing scientific advancements. The 70,126-sf building was designed by UNStudio to offer world-class laboratory and office environments that foster collaboration and innovation.

Coriell Institute for Medical Research broke ground in October of 2025 on a 92,000-sf life sciences campus in Camden. Created in partnership with NJEDA, the Lewis L. Coriell Medical Research Center will advance the frontiers of biomedical science to catalyze critical breakthroughs in cancer treatment, stem cell technology, epigenetics, and drug discovery. 

The University of Alabama at Birmingham opened the Altec/Styslinger Genomic Medicine and Data Sciences Building in October of 2025. Designed by William Blackstock Architects, the $78 million project involved the renovation and expansion of the existing Lyons-Harrison Research Building to accommodate leading-edge labs, computational suites, meeting rooms, offices, and purpose-built venues for innovation and collaboration.

Wayne State University broke ground in September of 2025 on the Health Sciences Research Building (HSRB) in Detroit to drive innovation and address regional healthcare disparities. Designed by HKS, the 160,000-sf structure will accommodate leading-edge laboratories for the study of oncology, neuroscience, systems biology and immunology, and metabolism and infectious diseases.

Ancora L&G opened a $165 million life sciences center in October of 2025 in Providence, Rhode Island. Located in the city’s I-95 innovation district, the 212,000-sf building accommodates 80,000 sf of world-class research space owned by and dedicated to the Rhode Island Department of Health.

More and more universities are building their scientific research centers around cores of huge, heavy, yet surprisingly delicate equipment. Building a core laboratory facility forces architects and campus planners to think about logistics, timing, and backup systems to a level of detail probably more familiar to NASA engineers than institutional architects. As the team behind Emory University’s new Health Sciences Research Building II (HSRB-II) learned, a huge range of factors—in their case, everything from the amount of rebar in the flooring to the width of the corridors to shipping velocity on the Suez Canal—must be reckoned with before such a facility is completed.

Eli Lilly and Company is constructing the $4.5 billion Lilly Medicine Foundry in Lebanon, Ind. The 1.2 million-sf center will combine research and advanced manufacturing with the latest technology to innovate new production methods and scale global access to medicines for clinical trials. Featuring a flexible layout, the seven-building complex will create various molecular therapies, including drug substances for small molecules, biologics, and nucleic acid therapeutics. 

Merck opened a filter and membrane manufacturing facility in October of 2025 in Cork, Ireland. Offering 32,291 sf of cleanroom space, the €150 million ($174.5 million) building will meet global demand in the production process of vaccines and life-changing biomedical treatments, including monoclonal antibodies and cell and gene therapies. By locating these expanded manufacturing capacities in Europe, Merck aims to reduce cross-border dependencies and ensure reliable access to critical filtration technologies.

FUJIFILM Biotechnologies opened a $3.2 billion pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in September of 2025 in Holly Springs, N.C. Integrating leading-edge equipment and technologies, the sophisticated development features eight 20,000-liter bioreactors for the production of bulk drug substances and innovative therapies. Johnson & Johnson and Regeneron have signed 10-year contracts to secure space at the 1.3 million-sf campus, which represents the largest end-to-end cell culture CDMO hub in North America. 

The University of Pittsburgh is constructing the state-of-the-art BioForge center in the Hazelwood Green development, a brownfield site site that once accommodated a steel mill. Designed by HOK, the $250 million hub will drive breakthroughs and innovations in the manufacturing of precision biological medicines to improve human health. The 185,000-sf building will fill a critical gap in the local biotechnology ecosystem by addressing production constraints and cost-based obstacles to the wide distribution and accessibility of novel treatments.

Penn Medicine opened a $376 million facility in September of 2025 in Philadelphia to drive pioneering research in autoimmune disorders. Positioned atop an existing 250,000-sf office tower, the eight-story overbuild features wet laboratories, a vivarium, and a BSL-3 lab for the processing of infectious disease specimens. The 217,000-sf expansion was designed by Perkins&Will to stimulate collaboration and accelerate the development of new treatment modalities for conditions such as arthritis, lupus, diabetes, and multiple sclerosis. 

The University of California, San Francisco began construction in August of 2025 on the Life Sciences Building located in the Dogpatch Power Station redevelopment. Designed by Herzog & de Mueron and Stantec, the transformative facility will drive bioscience innovation by bringing together research, best-in-class patient care, and graduate-level training with venues for new biomedical companies.

Brown University is constructing the William A. and Ami Kuan Danoff Laboratories in Providence’s Jewelry District to support integrated life sciences research. The 300,000-sf facility was designed by TenBerke and Ballinger to catalyze innovation and the commercialization of impactful scientific and medical breakthroughs. The seven-story building will provide six levels of wet and dry laboratories and research cores for programs in biology, medicine, neuroscience, bioengineering, and public health.

Southern Research opened a $98 million biotechnology center in August of 2025 in Birmingham, Alabama. Designed by HOK and Williams Blackstock Architects, the 150,000-sf building will advance research crucial to human health and address pressing biomedical threats. The five-level structure features BSL-3 laboratories spanning 7,500 sf that provide essential biocontainment capacity for the study of infectious diseases.