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.
Novartis opened the 80,000-sf Research Center of Excellence in Virology in Cambridge, Mass., on Sept 13, 2008. The BSL-3 facility houses laboratory and office space for an additional 150 employees. The project will accommodate vaccine research for diseases such as influenza and HIV.
Quintiles Transnational Corp. is expanding its Asia-Pacific operations with a new regional headquarters in Singapore. Housing the Central Laboratory and its Clinical Development Services, the 80,000-sf facility is located in the Cintech IV building now under construction in Science Park One. Occupancy is slated for mid-2009. Quintiles is a contract research organization that provides clinical trials outsourcing and management.
Shionogi & Co. will begin construction on a new ¥14 billion pharmaceutical research facility on its existing campus in Toyonaka City, Osaka, in fall of 2008. Serving as the center of research operations, the 43,000-sm facility will house world class laboratories and testing equipment in a six-story earthquake resistant facility. Construction is expected to reach completion in spring of 2010 with operations commencing in summer of 2010.
Pfizer will open the 105,000-sf Biotherapeutics and Bioinnovation Center (BBC) in San Francisco’s Mission Bay development in 2010. Located adjacent to the University of California, San Francisco's Quantitative Biosciences (QB3) research facility, the leased five-story building will enable Pfizer to pursue collaborative research with academic and industry partners. The project developer is Alexandria Real Estate Equities. Pfizer may lease an additional 50,000-sf in another wing of the building.
Almac Group broke ground on its $78.5 million headquarters and production facility in Lower Salford Township, Pa., in July of 2008. The 240,000-sf project, which is being managed by Skanska USA, is scheduled for completion in 2010. When complete, the 40-acre site will accommodate a 74,500-sf office building and a 165,600-sf production facility. Initially two divisions, Almac Clinical Services and Almac Clinical Technologies, will be based in the building, and plans are in place for expansion across other divisions at the site.
The Hunan Provincial Government is partnering with Microbix Biosystems to construct an influenza vaccine manufacturing complex in the Hunan Liuyang Biomedical Industrial Park in China. The $200-million jointly-owned project, one of the largest flu vaccine production facilities worldwide, will be managed by Microbix and will utilize the company’s VIRUSMAX technology.
Ark Therapeutics Group opened a $19.1 million GMP-3 manufacturing facility in Kuopio, Finland, in July of 2008. The commercial scale production plant is connected to Ark's existing laboratory suites and will manufacture gene-based medicines. The BSL-2 facility features a 547-sm cleanroom with HEPA air filtration. The duration of construction for the project was three years.
Merck is building a $100 million, 110,000-sf pharmaceutical production facility in the Treyburn Corporate Park in Durham, N.C. Comprised of quality testing labs, a sterile processing plant, and packaging, the project is slated for completion in 2010 and represents the second phase of expansion at Merck’s vaccine manufacturing complex. The first $300 million, 235,000-sf phase was completed in spring of 2008. The third phase, a $300 million manufacturing, warehouse, and administrative facility, will reach completion in 2011.
Gaithersburg-based MedImmune is constructing a 710,000-sf manufacturing complex in Frederick, Md. Fluor Corp. of Irving, Texas, joined the project team in May of 2008 and will work with Parsons of Pasadena, Calif., the original engineering contractor. The $250 million project broke ground in early fall of 2006 and includes a 331,000-sf biologics production facility with two commercial-scale bioreactors. Occupancy is slated for early 2009.
Boehringer Ingelheim inaugurated the $36 million Global Centre of Excellence for Antiviral Drug Discovery in Laval, Quebec, in May of 2008. Supporting the discovery of treatments for serious infectious diseases including Hepatitis C and AIDS, the laboratory can accommodate 40 researchers. The project construction manager was Kingston Beyers of LaSalle, Quebec.
Eli Lilly dedicated the Bioproduct Research and Development Laboratory in Indianapolis on May 12, 2008. The 475,000-sf, four-story facility will accommodate 500 scientists and staff in 33 labs engaged in biopharmaceutical research. The project represents the final phase of construction at Lilly’s three-building biotechnology complex. The first two phases include a 250,000-sf bioproduct manufacturing plant and a 10,000-sf research support facility, both completed in fall of 2006.
Wyeth Nutritionals has awarded a $400 million contract to a partnership of M+W Zander and PM Group to provide design, project management, and construction oversight for two projects. A 50,000-sm infant nutrition facility will be constructed in Suzhou, China. The $280 million greenfield project is slated for completion in late 2010. In Singapore, a 12,000-sm expansion of an existing facility will reach completion in late 2009.
Pfizer is constructing two facilities in County Cork, Ireland. A $297 million biopharmaceutical clinical manufacturing plant in Shanbally will produce experimental medicines for Phase II and III clinical trials. An R&D center housing 100 employees will be built at Pfizer’s existing campus in Ringaskiddy. Both projects are slated for completion by year-end 2009.
