Biomedical

Kissimmee Animal Diagnostics Lab in Kissimmee, Fla., recently opened a new 1,650-sf biosafety level 3 laboratory. As the only animal testing facility of its kind in the state, the lab will support Florida’s homeland security programs and response to food safety threats by providing rapid screenings for diseases such as BSE in cattle populations. Funded by the state, the lab is part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s pilot network of state and federal surveillance labs and is equipped with advanced diagnostic equipment.

Union College in Schenectady, N.Y., will develop the Center for Bioengineering & Computational Biology with a $1.6-million grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Creating new research laboratories and a bioengineering teaching laboratory, the facility will feature an online system by which participants can view results from experiments conducted in the center over the Internet.

Xcyte Therapies has broken ground on a new $4 million manufacturing facility in Bothell, Wash. The Seattle-based biotech will manufacture its most advanced product, Xcellerated T Cells, in the new facility, which could make enough T Cells to use in clinical trials beginning in 2005. The plant will potentially manufacture T Cells to treat up to 18,000 patients annually.

Arizona State University (ASU) has selected architect SmithGroup and contractor DPR Construction as the project team for the first building on the university’s biomedical campus in Phoenix. The 90,000-sf to 100,000-sf facility will have four to five floors and is expected to begin construction later in 2004 and reach completion in 18 months.

Scripps/University Biotech Consortium is planning to build a Florida Universities and Scripps East Research Consortium Center adjacent to its planned 364,000-sf facility in Palm Beach County. Sited on 150 acres, the first phase of the $10 million, 15,000-gsf project includes design and construction of a campus gateway, a central utility plant, a large reception area, office suites, and meeting rooms.

Ohio State University is engaged in a major expansion of its cancer program that could total $400 million in construction projects over the next ten years. Doubling the capacity of the Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and the Richard J. Solove Research Institute, the project will include 725,000 sf to 785,000 sf of new development and 170,000 sf to 190,000 sf of renovation on the University's Columbus campus. Site selection will occur in the next 12 to 18 months. A search for proposals from architectural, engineering, and construction management firms is under way.

Albuquerque-based TCI Medical plans to break ground on a Carlsbad, Calif., manufacturing plant by June 2004 to produce its medical products. TCI, a startup nuclear pharmaceutical company, provides radioactive isotopes for the diagnosis and treatment of heart ailments, cancer, and circulatory problems.

The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas will construct the Cecil H. and Ida Green Comprehensive Center for Molecular, Computational and Systems Biology with a $12.9 million donation from the Cecil and Ida Green Foundation. Featuring the latest tools in computer science, engineering, and imaging technology, the center will link basic research on molecules and cells with analysis of the function of whole biological systems.

The University of New York State at Albany will use the proceeds from the sale of  $3.2 million in bonds to initiate site work on its $45-million cancer research center.

Construction has begun on two new buildings on the University of Arizona, Tucson campus: the Institute for Biomedical Science and Biotechnology (IBSB) and the Medical Research Building (MRB). Designed by Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Partnership, both facilities are comprised of four levels of highly flexible research, office, and support spaces with a connection to a below-ground vivarium. A physical link, inside and out, will facilitate collaboration among multidisciplined sciences. The buildings will frame a central courtyard envisioned as the social heart of the new research community.

San Diego-based Scripps Research Institute is developing a 364,000-sf research laboratory and administrative compound on farmland in Palm Beach County, Fla. The $140 million facility will house state-of-the-art biomedical research labs with a focus on applied research and commercialization of scientific discoveries. Slated to open in 2006, the facility will collaborate with the Florida Atlantic University-based Enterprise Development Corp. to develop industry partnerships. Scripps plans to hire between 30 and 40 staffers in the first year of operation.

Cellular medicine company ViaCell will relocate its headquarters to 43,000 sf of lab and office space at Cambridge Science Center in Massachusetts. The facility, previously known as Riverview I, is being converted by Equity Office to accommodate 130,000 sf of laboratory space. An 18-story tower, previously named Riverview II, houses 148,000 sf of office space. ViaCell’s footprint of 25,000-sf of lab space and 18,000-sf of office space in the adjoining tower is connected by a common lobby.

Ground will be broken in summer of 2004 on the Blackfan Research Center in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston. Creating 575,000 sf of life sciences research space, the 18-floor building will be sited on three acres adjacent to a Merck facility, Children’s Hospital, and Harvard Medical School. Developed by Lyme Properties LLC, the $250-million project will accommodate medical institutions and life science companies. The project contractor is William A. Berry & Son of Denver. Lyme Properties is also developing a 440,000-sf medical research center called Longwood North.

The Arthur and Gladys Pancoe-Evanston Northwestern Healthcare Life Sciences Pavilion (Pancoe-ENH), designed by Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Partnership, officially opened November 14, 2003 at Northwestern University. Located on the Evanston campus, Pancoe-ENH will provide lab space for 24 to 32 principal investigators and their research groups working in the areas of molecular biology, genomics, cell biology, neurobiology, developmental biology and reproductive biology.