Cubist Pharmaceuticals has completed a 104,000-sf expansion of its headquarters facility in Lexington, Mass. The Richmond Group managed the design/build project, which provides additional laboratories for the development of antibiotics and acute care products. Due to site restrictions and the existing building's footprint, the most cost effective solution for expansion was to build vertically.
The Strategy for UK Life Sciences was announced by Prime Minister David Cameron in December of 2012. The measures include $116 million for construction of a planned bioinformatics hub near Cambridge and $77 million for a Cell Therapy Technology and Innovation Centre in London. The initiative also provides $480 million to promote commercialization of biomedical research discoveries through collaboration with the pharmaceutical industry.
Biomeasure, a subsidiary of French pharmaceutical company Ipsen, is initiating a $45 million expansion and renovation of its campus in Milford, Mass. Ground will be broken in mid-2012 on a three-story, 62,000-sf facility housing R&D and process science labs. Two existing buildings at the site, a research facility and a cGMP manufacturing plant totaling 77,000 sf, will be extensively renovated. Completion is expected in early 2014.
Roche opened a $271 million pharmaceutical research and development facility in November of 2011 in Basel, Switzerland. The five-story building will support the creation of new formulations for active pharmaceutical ingredients as well as producing materials for clinical trials.
Novavax is expanding its operations in Gaithersburg, Md., with the long-term lease of 74,000 sf of manufacturing, lab, and office space in two buildings. The main facility will undergo renovation to become Novavax's primary commercial-scale plant for cGMP production of seasonal and pandemic VLP influenza vaccines. Completion is expected in mid-2012. The company's corporate headquarters will be relocated to the second building at the same campus.
Boehringer Ingelheim broke ground on a $65 million research and development facility in Ridgefield, Conn., in November of 2011. The 72,000-sf facility will support the production of active pharmaceutical ingredients for early stage product development. Completion is expected in 2014. A $42.5 million safety assessment building is also under construction. Boehringer Ingelheim is based in Germany.
The Almac Group is expanding its pharmaceutical R&D campus in Craigavon, Northern Ireland, with the construction of a $7.2 million formulation development facility. The scale-up laboratory will support early stage clinical development of solid oral dose drug products. Completion is expected in mid-2012. A second phase of expansion will include the construction of additional analytical and quality control labs, with completion slated for year-end 2012.
Roche opened its Center of Excellence for clinical supply manufacturing on September 30, 2011. The 17,000-sf facility will produce pharmaceutical compounds for preclinical safety studies. Ground was broken on the cGMP project in May of 2010 with construction beginning in August of 2010.
Shionogi celebrated the opening of its $246.4 million pharmaceutical research facility in August of 2011. Located in Toyonaka City, Osaka, the 105,476-sf building will consolidate Shionogi's drug discovery research from four separate locations. The Shionogi Pharmaceutical Research Center (SPRC) is designed to foster interaction and collaboration and features advanced instrumentation and laboratory equipment. Construction began on the facility in September of 2008 with completion in July of 2011.
Isogenica completed construction of a new pharmaceutical automation facility in July of 2011. Located in the Chesterford Research Park in the United Kingdom, the plant will house a high throughput CIS display platform, liquid handling robots, and screening equipment. The facility will produce advanced biopharmaceutical therapeutics.
SANYO North America Corporation Biomedical Solutions Division and BD Biosciences, a segment of BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company), have announced a strategic agreement to jointly promote cutting-edge life science research tools designed to advance cell culture and cell therapy research. The goals of this collaboration are to develop long-term and short-term co-marketing programs, as well as to research innovative ways to combine product technologies and offerings to serve both current and untapped market applications.
The Center for Childhood Cancer Research opened the 20,000-sf Jensen Laboratory in July of 2011 in Seattle. The facility will feature research laboratories and an on-site therapeutics manufacturing facility for the production of customized immune cells for individualized cancer treatment. The laboratory is affiliated with Seattle Children’s Hospital.
MSD (Merck Sharp Dohme) opened the Bioassay Centre of Expertise and the Pneumococcal Vaccine Conjugation Facility in June of 2011 in Brinny, Ireland. The facilities represent an investment of $41 million and will support the development, commercialization, and manufacture of vaccines and protein-based therapeutics.
Novartis broke ground in June of 2011 on a pharmaceutical manufacturing plant in St. Petersburg, Russia. Part of a five-year, $500 million investment, the facility will utilize advanced technologies to produce innovative therapeutics and generics. Completion is expected in 2014.
Allosource broke ground in May of 2011 on a expansion and renovation of its facilities in Centennial, Colo. Providing labs, cleanrooms, offices, testing suites, conference rooms, and medical training space, the project will enable Allosource to consolidate its operations in a single location. The facility was designed by Intergroup Architects with The Weitz Company as general contractor. Completion of the new facility is expected in spring of 2012 with existing facility renovations concluding in fall of 2012.
