Pharmaceutical

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.

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.