Pharmaceutical

GlaxoSmithKline will build a 205,000-sf facility in the Philadelphia Navy Yard. The four-story building will be developed by Liberty Property Trust and Synterra Partners and is expected to achieve LEED Platinum sustainable design certification. Robert A.M. Stern Architects (RAMSA) is providing design services for the $81 million project. Site work will begin in March of 2011 with construction commencing in summer of 2011. Completion is expected by early 2013.

The Medical Center of the Americas is in the design stage in El Paso, Texas. Created by a consortium of academic and industry partners including the University of Texas and Texas Tech, the planned 140-acre biomedical research complex will support commercialization of pharmaceutical therapies. The first phase of the project will include construction of an 80,000-sf facility on 10 acres in central El Paso. A subsequent phase of construction will deliver two additional buildings at the site.

DSM Pharmaceutical Products is building a $65 million biologics manufacturing facility in Brisbane. The 6,500-sf project is part of the Translational Research Institute at the Princess Alexandra Hospital campus. Completion is expected by 2013.

Genzyme Corp. initiated construction in January of 2011 on a $344 million pharmaceutical manufacturing plant in Geel, Belgium. The facility will provide 8,000 liters of production capacity for biologics and a complete purification installation. Completion is expected in late 2014. Genzyme is based in Cambridge, Mass.

Agensys began construction in January of 2011 on a $95 million biopharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Santa Monica. Designed by HLW International, the 160,000-sf complex will house research labs, offices, and manufacturing space. Completion is expected in early 2013. The building will enable Agensys to consolidate operations from three existing sites in Santa Monica. Agensys is a subsidiary of Japan-based Astellas Pharma.

Novartis International AG will begin construction in 2011 on a pharmaceutical manufacturing plant in St. Peterburg, Russia. The project is part of a five-year, $500 million investment by Novartis in local infrastructure, healthcare initiatives, and partnerships with academia and industry.

CMC Biologics has completed construction of a disposable biopharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Seattle. The project will support early-phase clinical production of mammalian cell culture-based recombinant proteins. The single-use facility represents a trend in bioprocessing to eliminate the costly sterilization procedures associated with traditional steel tank manufacturing, as well as decrease cross-contamination risks, by utilizing disposable processing equipment and bioreactors.

The Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute (Mtech) is initiating an expansion of the Bioprocess Scale-Up Facility in College Park, Md. Supported by $200,000 in funding from the Maryland Biotechnology Center, the project will double Mtech’s existing footprint with additional bioprocessing laboratories, fermentation facilities, and tissue culture suites. The new facility is located in the University of Maryland’s Institute for Bioscience and Biotechnology Research (IBBR) and will support bioprocessing and protein purification training programs.

The Methodist Hospital Research Institute (TMHRI) will open its 440,000-sf research facility in Houston in October of 2010. Housing 90 principal investigators and 800 staff, the interdisciplinary facility will include a GMP bioprocessing facility and an infectious disease research lab.

CSL Limited will construct a biopharmaceutical R&D facility in Broadmeadows, Victoria. The $235 million project includes infrastructure improvements to CSL’s existing manufacturing campus to enhance integration with the new building. The R&D facility will support late stage development of treatments for cancer, bleeding disorders, inflammation, and infection.

Genzyme Corp. is planning a 757,000-sf expansion of its existing campus in Framingham, Mass. Construction will begin between 2015 and 2018 on 400,000 sf of additional research space, with another 360,000 sf of office, manufacturing, and parking space breaking ground mid-decade. A $300 million, 55,000-sf drug production plant and a six-story, 185,000-sf quality control lab will open in July of 2011.

Medical device manufacturer Irvine Scientific opened its Industrial Cell Culture media production facility in Tokyo in July of 2010. The 1,720-sm building will manufacture the company's cell culture media for production of biopharmaceuticals, vaccines, and monoclonal antibodies. Adhering to both ISO and FDA regulations, the facility will have the capacity to produce 600,000 kg of powdered media per year. Completion is expected in early 2011.

Emergent BioSolutions was awarded a contract by the Department of Health and Human Services to expand anthrax vaccine production at its facility in Lansing, Mich. The contract was awarded by the Office of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority and will increase manufacturing capacity to 26 million doses per year. The value of the contract is estimated at $107 million over five years.

Wayne County will begin construction in July of 2010 on the $1.5 million Michigan Center for Regenerative Medicine in Plymouth. The 21,000-sf facility will house wet labs, offices, and manufacturing space to support stem cell research and development for the pharmaceutical and biotech industries. The center will be operated by Michigan Research Institute in Ann Arbor with Innovative BioTherapies as the anchor tenant. Completion is expected in late fall of 2010.

Vivalis has relocated its research and development operations to a new 35,520-sf facility in Nantes, France. The €6.5 million biologics research facility is located adjacent to Vivalis’ existing bioproduction building and will support accelerated product development.