Siemens Healthcare broke ground on a 143,000-sf training and service facility on its Cary, N.C., campus in August of 2008. Slated for occupancy in early 2010, the six-story building will house offices, training rooms, parking, and a cafeteria. The $57 million project will house administrative and customer support operations for Siemens’ medical technologies and will create an additional 300 jobs. LEED certification will be sought for the facility.
GE Healthcare is constructing a $165 million digital imaging production facility in the Rensselaer Technology Park in North Greenbush, N.Y. Slated for completion in early 2009, the facility will produce sensors for digital mammography machines in a 60,000-sf cleanroom. LEED Gold certification for sustainable design will be sought for the project, which will feature use of natural light and rooftop solar panels to power the building’s laboratory and office wings.
Medical device manufacturer Johnson Medtech opened its 14,000-sm cleanroom facility in Shajing, China, in late June of 2008. Comprised of four cleanrooms on three floors, the project includes three ISO 8 Class 100,000 cleanrooms, an ISO 6 Class 1,000 cleanroom, a testing laboratory, and an engineering office. The facility will support increased production of medical devices and subassemblies. Additionally, construction will begin in July of 2008 on a control manufacturing area with assembly line and plastic injection workshop.
The University of Minnesota opened the Medical Devices Center at the Twin Cities campus in Minneapolis on June 24, 2008. The $400,000 technology-rich facility will enable researchers to design, prototype, and test new medical devices. Housing a computer-aided precision design center, a fabrication facility, and a 3D surgical imaging suite, the Medical Devices Center is part of the University of Minnesota's Institute for Engineering in Medicine (IEM). The Institute will expand to a total of 50,000-sf of research and office space on three floors by 2011.
Roche Molecular Diagnostics (RMD) opened a $57.5 million research facility at its global headquarters campus in Pleasanton, Calif., on April 3, 2008. Designed by DES Architects + Engineers to meet LEED sustainable design criteria, the project will enable RMD to complete the consolidation of its West Coast operations. The 135,000-sf facility was built by DPR Construction and features molecular biology and core support laboratories.
Response Biomedical Corporation will relocate to its new global headquarters in Vancouver, B.C. on March 31, 2008. The 46,000-sf specialized use facility was specifically designed and constructed for development, GMP manufacturing, and distribution of point-of-care (POC) medical diagnostic test kits. The new facility should allow manufacturing scale-up from approximately 500,000 tests currently manufactured per year to four million tests per year by mid-2008, based on the demands of industry partners including 3M and Shinogi & Co. of Japan.
Coloplast initiated construction in March of 2008 on its new North American headquarters in Minneapolis. The Danish medical technology firm’s 180,000-sf campus will be one of three global innovation centers and will house 300 workers. The $40 million project will enable Coloplast, a maker of urology, continence, and wound care products, to consolidate many operations in a central location.
Santa Ana, Calif.-based Advanced Medical Optics has begun construction on the 180,000-sf Center of Excellence for Manufacturing in Milpitas, Calif. Designed by Ware Malcolm, the building is comprised of 80,000 sf of office and 100,000 sf of manufacturing, including a laser surgery demonstration/showroom, a reception area, training facilities, conference facilities, and offices. Construction is slated for completion in December 2007. The general contractor is San Francisco-based BCCI Construction.
Siemens Institute for Advanced Medicine is constructing a $150 million facility at the Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg. The project received $13.5 million in funding from the Canadian federal government in summer of 2007, for a total federal investment to date of $26.5 million. The 100,000-sf facility will house a neuroscience research department, surgery facilities, and R&D space for testing for advanced operating tools and technologies.
Winnipeg Health Sciences Center celebrated the groundbreaking of the $35-million Siemens Institute for Advanced Medicine (SIAM) in December of 2006. The 80,000-sf research center features the new $100-million Ann Thomas Critical Services Building, a facility that will accommodate trauma operating rooms and leading-edge patient care when it opens in early 2007. The project will also include a $25-million hotel sited within the complex.
Indianapolis-based Guidant Corp. will expand its footprint in Temecula, Calif., with the construction of two buildings totaling approximately 300,000 sf. Housing personnel and operations for its growing stents and emerging technology programs, the two buildings and adjacent parking structure are expected to break ground in the second quarter of 2006. The facilities are slated for completion in late 2007. The product lines accommodated by the expansion include drug eluting stents, carotid artery stents, and bioabsorbable stents.
The University of South Florida (USF) will break ground in spring of 2006 on the 70,000-sf Center for Advanced Learning and Simulation at the University Research Park in Tampa. Expected to cost between $60-million and $70-million, the center will house laboratories for physician skill training, medical product development, and a virtual hospital and simulation center. The facility will bring R&D and surgical skills training together under one roof. Completion is expected in late summer to late fall of 2007.
GE Healthcare is nearing completion of its new four-story, 506,000-sf facility located in the Milwaukee County Research Park in Wauwatosa. Housing office space, 50,000 sf of ultrasound assembly operations, a 10,000 sf product display area, an 80-seat auditorium, light manufacturing, programming and engineering facilities, the $85-million building will also include a 1,500-car parking garage, a cafeteria, and a 5,000-sf fitness center.
Biovalve Technologies, a manufacturer of drug-delivery systems, will expand its 23,500-sf research and development facility in Westborough, Mass., by 40,000 sf to 45,000 sf. Adding manufacturing capacity, the expansion will begin by spring of 2006 with initial clinical and commercial production beginning at the facility by the end of the year. The project represents an investment of $8 million.
BD Medical Pharmaceutical Systems , a maker of medical technology products, will broke ground on a $33.5-million addition to its Columbus, Ohio, manufacturing plant October 13, 2005. The project is comprised of a 15,000-sf sterilization addition to the existing 230,000-sf facility and equipment to increase manufacturing and production capacity for glass drug containers. One-third of the new production capacity will be functional in one year. The sterilization facility is slated for completion in two years.
