Biomedical

Brisbane, Calif.-based VaxGen has opened an $11-million facility in South San Francisco that will manufacture the company’s anthrax vaccine, AIDS vaccine, and products ranging from smallpox vaccine to monoclonal antibodies. The 17,000-sf facility is adjacent to the company’s research and development operations, and features stainless steel bioprocessors and purifiers. The facility can be easily reconfigured as manufacturing requirements change as much of the equipment is on wheels.

The University of Maryland-Baltimore’s planned Biomedical Research Park in West Baltimore has received $4 million to assist startup companies from the state’s Sunny Day Fund. The funding will enable young companies to make needed office and lab improvements.

Exact Sciences Corp. is relocating from Maynard, Mass. into a 55,000-sf office and laboratory space at Building One at 3Com Drive in Marlborough. Exact Sciences, a company that uses applied genomics for the early detection of common cancer types, has contracted Newton-based Diversified Project Management to manage the relocation.  

Biomedical Research Models of Worcester, Mass., has relocated part of its operations to 10,000 sf in Springfield. The facility is slated to open in early July of 2003. Biomedical Research Models is affiliated with the Springfield-based Bio-Economic Technology Alliance (BETA), an organization focused on the development of a cluster of biotech manufacturing companies in the area.

Venter Science Foundation Joint Technology Center will open its 60,000-sf facility in Rockville in June 2003. The high-throughput DNA sequencing center will enable scientists from Craig Venter’s Center for the Advancement of Genomics (TCAG) and Duke University to work together to refine genomics research and lower the cost of DNA sequencing technologies. TCAG is a non-profit genomics research and policy center.

The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) broke ground on its 281-acre research campus at Janelia Farm in Northern Virginia on May 5. The $500 million development will accommodate over 300 scientists and staff and is slated to reach completion in 2005. The project’s first 650,000-sf phase includes lab, research, housing, conference, and meeting space. The project manager for the first phase of construction is Jacobs Facilities, a subsidiary of Jacobs Engineering of Arlington, Va. HHMI is based in Chevy Chase, Md.

The University of Texas Southwest Medical Center is engaged in the demolition and renovation of 24,000 sf of advanced cell biology workspace in Dallas. Omniplan Architects of Dallas designed the project, which will be completed by contractor McCarthy in two distinct phases.

Biodynamic Research Corp. (BRC) will lease 38,000 sf in a new 70,045-sf single-story tech building in San Antonio. Ground was recently broken on the facility, the second phase of the University Heights Tech Center, by developer R.L. Worth and Associates of San Antonio. The building will feature a high degree of office finish-out and large floorplates, as well as a high parking ratio: 6.16 cars per 1,000 rentable square feet. BRC is a professional services and research firm and a leading consultant in biodynamics research.

UCSF Genentech Hall, a new biomedical research and teaching building at the University of California San Francisco's new Mission Bay campus, opened in January. Designed by the San Francisco office of SmithGroup, the new five-story, 434,000-sf facility is the first structure to be completed on the 303-acre Mission Bay campus. Once fully occupied, the building will house approximately 900 faculty, students, and staff.