Pharmaceutical

The International Aids Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) opened its 36,000-sf Vaccine Design and Development Laboratory in New York City in November of 2008. Located in Brooklyn, the translational research project will anchor a planned 500,000-sf bioscience industry complex in the redeveloped Brooklyn Army Terminal. IAVI’s Design Lab will support AIDS vaccine research and is affiliated with the State University of New York (SUNY) Downstate Medical Center. The $17 million lab is designed to foster industry and academic collaboration and will accommodate 40 researchers.

Merck Serono is engaged in a €300 million expansion of its biologics manufacturing campus in Corsier-sur-Vevey, Switzerland. The expanded Merck Serono Biotech Center will support the production of therapeutics for colorectal and head and neck cancers as well as autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. The project will feature two dedicated production suites, each with a 120,000-liter bioreactor capacity. A logistics center and a wastewater treatment station will also be constructed. Production is expected to begin in 2012.

Merck Sharp and Dohme will begin construction in summer of 2009 on a €220 million vaccine manufacturing plant in Carlow, Ireland. Located in the IDA Business and Technology Park, the project includes formulation, manufacturing, and sterile filling facilities. Accommodating R&D, quality control, and administration, the building will support 170 employees and is expected to reach completion in 2011. Merck Sharp and Dohme is the U.K. subsidiary of Merck & Co.

Tokuda Hospital is partnering with PharmaCell to build a $6.4 million human cell and tissue culture facility in Sofia, Bulgaria. Construction of the GMP facility is expected to begin in early 2009. Tokuda Hospital Sofia is owned by Japanese healthcare company Tokushukai Medical.

Merck Serono and U.S. affiliate EMD Serono initiated construction in fall of 2008 on a $78 million research expansion in Billerica, Ma. The 125,000-sf project is slated for completion in late 2010 and will include laboratories for pharmaceutical discovery and production.

Covidien, a pharmaceutical and healthcare products manufacturer, is expanding its St. Louis County operations. In Maryland Heights, a $72 million expansion will add over 12,000-sf to the existing 364,000-sf facility, including 5,000-sf for radiopharmaceutical production. Construction will begin in 2009 with completion expected in 2011. The project team includes CH2M Hill Lockwood Greene of Englewood, Colo., and general contractor McGrath & Associates of St. Louis.

BD Biosciences is building the AF2 (Animal-Free/Antibiotic-Free) bioprocess manufacturing facility in Miami. The 90,000-sf cGMP production plant is expected to open in October of 2009 and will manufacture products monitored for animal-origin component raw materials to the tertiary level. The project will include cell culture operations and large-scale liquid filling equipment, supporting the needs of bioprocess companies working with mammalian, microbial, or stem cell lines.

Charles River Laboratories opened its 60,000-sf preclinical facility in Shanghai in October of 2008. The drug development building will begin providing GLP (Good Laboratory Practice) biopharmaceutical research and development services in the first quarter of 2009. The project includes vivarium facilities for animal research and will comply with AAALAC (Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care) and U.S. FDA guidelines.

Pharmaforce will break ground on a $35 million pharmaceutical research and office complex in New Albany, Ohio, in November of 2008. The project includes a 70,000-sf sterile production facility, a 15,000-sf research laboratory, and 15,000-sf of office space. Completion is expected in fall of 2009.

SAFC Pharma broke ground in October of 2008 on a 45,000-sf manufacturing facility for active pharmaceutical ingredients in Verona, Wis. Sited in the Verona Technology Park, the expansion will accommodate 50 additional employees. The $30 million facility will include isolator boxes for chemical compound handling. Completion is expected in late 2009 with production commencing in early 2010. The project contractor is Vogel Bros. Construction. SAFC Pharma is headquartered in the University Research Park in Madison and is a subsidiary of St.

Cubist Pharmaceuticals opened its new 35,000-sf research facility in late September of 2008. Located at Cubist’s headquarters in Lexington, Mass., the laboratory building will support research and development of molecular disease treatments. The sustainably-designed project includes 50 additional fume hoods, NMR instrumentation, and 3D molecular modeling.

Pfizer is investing $3 million to expand its Animal Genetics unit in Kalamazoo, Mich. Twenty employees will be relocated to Building 300 from a site in Louisiana that will be closed. The new Animal Genetics unit will open in March of 2009. The project is part of Pfizer’s $50 million consolidation of its Veterinary Medicine Research and Development operations to the Kalamazoo campus. Researchers will be transferred from sites in Richland Township, Pa., and Sandwich, U.K.

MannKind dedicated its new biopharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Danbury, Conn., in September of 2008. Designed by KlingStubbins and CRB Consulting Engineers, the 263,900-sf project will house production operations from receipt of raw materials, including active pharmaceutical ingredients, through formulation, freezing, freeze drying, powder filling, and primary packaging. The construction manager for the facility was Torcon.

Genzyme Corp. opened the $125 million Science Center in Framingham, Mass., on September 22, 2008. Designed by ARC/Architectural Resources Cambridge, the facility has attained LEED Gold sustainable design certification. The six-story, 180,000-sf building houses laboratories and offices united by a central atrium. The facility will house 350 employees engaged in cardiovascular, cancer, immunology, and neurology research.

Analytical Bio-Chemistry Laboratories opened its $15 million pharmaceutical laboratory in Missouri University’s Discovery Ridge Research Park in Columbia, Mo., in September of 2008. The 90,000-sf facility will initially house 210 employees with the potential to house a total of 500 employees in the next four years. The expansion and renovation project has enabled consolidation of ABC’s regional operations.