Pharmaceutical

The Vaccine and Gene Therapy Institute of Florida (VGTI), an offshoot of the VGTI at Oregon Health and Science University, is dedicated to developing vaccines and immunotherapies to combat diseases such as AIDS, cancer, tuberculosis, and diseases associated with emerging viral infections such as Dengue fever and pandemic influenza. The three-story, 101,000-sf facility contains 11,000 nsf of vivarium/containment space with integrated procedure and in-vivo imaging spaces, nine bioscience research lab groups, specialty support labs, offices, and conference space.

Pfizer is investing $130 million to expand its pharmaceutical manufacturing operations in Ireland. Pfizer's Grange Castle campus in Clondalkin will undergo a $100 million renovation and expansion to double current production of therapies for rheumatoid arthritis. Completion is expected in 2015. A $23 million upgrade of the Ringaskiddy campus will support the manufacture of new cancer treatments and other medicines.

The recently opened Translational Research Institute (TRI) in Brisbane, Australia, combines four major research institutes into a single medical and biopharmaceutical research facility where new treatments can be developed, manufactured, and clinically tested in one location, greatly shortening the time between discovery and application.

The University of Nebraska broke ground on the $35 million College of Pharmacy and Center for Drug Discovery in June of 2013. Located at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, the 85,000-sf teaching and research building will provide classrooms, faculty offices, 15 drug discovery labs, a sterile compounding suite, and a model pharmacy for simulation training. The design team includes The Clark Enersen Partners and RDG Planning & Design.

Dainippon Sumitomo Pharma will open the $65 million Chemistry Research Building in Osaka in July of 2013. Located at the Osaka Research Center, the 175,690-sf facility houses laboratories for drug discovery, process chemistry, and analytical research and development. Construction began on the project in January of 2012 and reached completion in June of 2013.

Continued signs of stable economic growth indicate that the recovery is gaining momentum in many parts of the United States and Canada. Construction selling prices for institutional projects grew at a 6 percent annualized rate in 2012, on top of a 3 percent increase in 2011. Construction costs are expected to continue stabilizing and rising in many regions as market confidence and capital spending increase.

The six-story Academic Health Sciences Centre embraces multidisciplinary, highly technical research, while supporting Saskatchewan's commitment to provide exceptional healthcare for the people of the province. Flad Architects collaborated with Henry Downing Howlett Architects to design the new D Wing, which houses research labs, animal facilities, and academic offices for biomedical and pharmaceutical researchers from the various Health Sciences Colleges and units at the University of Saskatchewan.

PrimeCell is building the $50 million 4MEDia center in Ostrava in the Czech Republic. Located on the campus of Ostrava Teaching Hospital, the 70,000-sf biomedical research facility will accommodate 150 investigators creating therapies for conditions including heart disease, dementia, multiple sclerosis, and diabetes. The project will foster collaboration with academic research institutions and industry partners for the commercial development of pharmaceutical products. Completion is expected in mid-2014.

The Performance Guaranteed Facility (PGF) model is a relatively new type of public/private partnership that allows the occupants to own a building the moment construction begins, while private-sector partners commit to its design, construction, financing, and ongoing maintenance, including future rehabilitation. The model goes by different names, but the concept involves an interactive partnership designed to benefit all parties for the long term.

Pfizer has located its corporate headquarters for the Center for Therapeutic Innovation group on the top floor of the Center for Life Science | Boston (CLSB) building, in the heart of the Longwood Medical Area.

The UF Research and Academic Center at Lake Nona is a four-story, 100,000-gsf research, academic, and conferencing facility which enables the University of Florida to continue its mission at the Lake Nona Medical City in Orlando, Fla.

Amgen will build a $200 million monoclonal antibody manufacturing facility in the Tuas Biomedical Park in Singapore. The plant will supply both clinical and commercial products. Construction will begin in spring of 2013.

Sanofi-Aventis broke ground in December of 2012 on a pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in King Abdullah Economic City in Saudi Arabia. Sited on a 377,000-sf plot of land near the city of Thuwal, the building will support the production of cardiovascular and oral anti-diabetic products.  

Although relatively small in size compared to more established research institutions, the University of New England (UNE) is making tremendous strides in growing its research and scholarship programs and infrastructure despite a shrinking pool of available grant funding. The private university, founded in 1978, began focusing its expansion efforts on biomedical research only within the past decade.

NanoViricides will renovate an existing 18,000-sf facility in Shelton, Conn., to create a cGMP pilot plant. Designed by Id3A, the facility will include research laboratories, offices, and a cGMP pharmaceutical manufacturing suite. The project manager and engineering consultant for the renovation is MPH Engineering.