Pharmaceutical

Covance Inc., a drug development services company, has selected a 300,000-sf facility in the Innovation Technology Park in Manassas, Va. as the site for its new pharmaceutical research and development laboratory. The Prince William county facility was originally constructed as an insulin manufacturing plant for Eli Lilly. Covance will expand the facility to a total of 410,000-sf at a cost of $175 million. Construction is slated for completion by January of 2011 with occupancy expected by the end of that year. Covance is headquartered in Princeton, N.J.

Sanofi-aventis initiated construction in fall of 2007 on a $60 million pharmaceutical research center in Oro Valley, Arizona. The 110,000-sf facility is slated for completion in 2009 and will seek LEED certification. The project contractor is Chestnut Construction of Tucson. The building will house approximately 105 researchers engaged in early stage drug development.

Schering-Plough has selected Skanska as the construction manager for a $60 million expansion of its Research Institute campus in Summit, N.J. The 200,000-sf expansion includes construction of a three story facility housing laboratories and warehouse space for drug development and production. The first phase of the project, a 1,350-space parking garage, was completed by Skanska in July of 2007. The facility will accommodate up to 3,000 workers upon completion in 2009.

FM:Systems, a leading provider of integrated workplace management systems and computer-aided facility management systems, announced in October of 2007 that Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals is using FM:Interact to share workplace information enterprise-wide. Enabling real-time access to accurate information, the application allows Bayer to utilize a single system to manage all of their facility management processes including space allocations, occupancy and moves, and maintenance.

Eli Lilly and Company presented ARAMARK Business and Industry group with its 2007 Global Supplier Award in September of 2007. Recognizing ARAMARK’s continued delivery of quality products and outstanding service, the award celebrates the vendor’s ability to help Eli Lilly meet its business goals.

AstraZeneca has partnered with Peking University to open the Clinical Pharmacology Unit (CPU) on Sept. 4, 2007 in Beijing, China. Accommodating research on therapies for infections, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases, the facility will accelerate progress from phase one drug development to the subsequent phases of clinical research. AstraZeneca is investing funds for facility upgrades to support clinical research and will provide personnel training, consulting, and system audits to Peking University Third Hospital.

Pfizer broke ground in late summer of 2007 on a $50 million expansion of the JJ Building in Chesterfield, Mo. The project will add 50,000 sf to the existing 60,000-sf facility to support increased production of biologic compounds. Completion is slated for late 2009. Pfizer is also constructing the 330,000-sf, $200 million New Research Building, a drug development facility, at the Chesterfield campus. Completion is expected in late 2008.

Pfizer celebrated the topping off of its new $200 million research facility in Chesterfield, Mo., in early July of 2007. Housing laboratories, office areas, and meeting spaces, the project was designed by KlingStubbins with Gilbane-Tarlton as construction manager. The new facility, built on the axis of a vibrant existing complex, is a key milestone in a master plan over twenty years in the making. The 320,000-sf research building will consolidate the St.

Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research & Development initiated construction in April 2007 on a new laboratory, office, and clinical development facility in Spring House, Pa. The 150,000-sf multidisciplinary building will function as the company’s East Coast discovery research hub. Completion is expected in 2009. 

U.S. pharmaceutical company Abbott opened the new 330,000-sf Abbott Biotechnology Limited plant in Barceloneta, Puerto Rico, in spring of 2007. Housing over 80 cell growth vessels and 12,000 liter bioreactor tanks, the $450 million plant will accommodate production of monoclonal antibodies and large scale product manufacturing. The project delivery timeline for the plant included two years of construction and two years for completion of validation and regulatory approvals.

Merck is engaged in a $57-million expansion of its Stonewall plant in Elkton, Va. to accommodate demand for its Gardasil vaccine. The project is the second phase of expansion at the facility and includes construction of a new building and installation of purification technologies for pharmaceutical production. The first $40-million phase included a vaccine fermentation unit and was completed in 2006.

GlaxoSmithKline opened its new $13-million (US) medicinal chemistry laboratory in Singapore in March 2007. The facility is located in the biomedical research hub Biopolis and is part of GSK’s existing Centre for Research in Cognitive and Neurodegenerative Disorders. The laboratory will enable researchers to engage in collaborative biology and chemistry pre-clinical research.

Scripps Florida is planning to construct its new 350,000-sf facility on the Florida Atlantic University John D. MacArthur Campus in Jupiter, Fla. Slated for completion in December 2008, the $18.6 million project will include three buildings. Building A will focus on chemistry, drug discovery, and translational research. Building B will focus on biotechnology, cells, genomes, and proteins, with an auditorium, cafeteria, and administrative offices. Building C will focus on biology and biomedical research.

AstraZeneca is initiating construction in the first half of 2007 on a $120-million Process Research and Development Laboratory in Macclesfield in the United Kingdom. Housing 170 scientists and specialists in the fields of chemistry, process engineering, and project management, the multidisciplinary facility will feature flexible lab space able to expand to accommodate up to 50 additional staff members in the future. The laboratory is scheduled to become operational in mid-2009.

Elan Corp. is planning the $100-million construction of two buildings in South San Francisco. Totaling 185,000 sf, the three-story facilities will be owned by developer Chamberlin Associates and leased by Elan, enabling the pharmaceutical firm to hire an additional 500 employees. The project is being designed by Dowler-Gruman Architects.