Pharmaceutical

Wyeth-Ayerst Pharmaceuticals has initiated the second phase of construction on its five-building Collegeville expansion. The $220-million project was designed by The Kling Lindquist Partnership of Philadelphia and is being built by Barclay White Skanska USA of Blue Bell, Pa. The 720,000-sf development consists of four four-story administrative buildings and a 1,060-space, three-story parking garage with additional surface parking available for 1,000 cars.

Idec Pharmaceuticals of San Diego broke ground on the first phase of a $1.25-billion large-scale manufacturing project on May 30. The first phase, totalling 470,000-sf in five buildings, is part of a planned three-phase, 1.3 million-sf new products manufacturing development. The first phase is scheduled for occupancy in November 2004.

TheraSense of Alameda, Calif., is doubling its facilities with the lease of 64,000 sf of build-to-suit space adjacent to its existing building in Alameda. TheraSense will invest $3-million in tenant improvements for the facility, which will expand the sales and manufacturing capacity for TheraSense's diabetes blood-testing kits. TheraSense plans to add 50 employees to its current 400-person staff when the new space is completed in April of 2003.  

Viral Antigens is developing a 2,500-sf biologic manufacturing facility attached to the company's existing Memphis facility. After eighteen months of planning and construction, the final certification of the $2.5-million contract factory will begin. The plant will manufacture proteins and other products, providing clean-room production for smaller biotech companies and researchers still in Phase I development.

Durham-based Trimeris is considering consolidating operations with a campus in Research Triangle Park. Although other sites are in the running, Trimeris is eyeing 40 acres owned by JDS Uniphase of California as a possible corporate headquarters location. A developer is drawing up plans for the project. Trimeris is currently developing an HIV treatment drug.

Netherlands-based pharmaceutical company Diosynth is planning a two-phase purchase of 91.3 acres in Research Triangle Park (RTP) with plans to add over 300,000 sf of new manufacturing space. Diosynth's purchase of the first 40 acres will be completed this summer, with an option at year-end on the remaining land. Now occupying 30,000 sf of Cary lab and office space and 110,000 sf of RTP manufacturing space, Diosynth currently has 600 Triangle employees.

Shire Laboratories is seeking a Montgomery County location for a planned large-scale manufacturing facility. The expansion may also include lab and office space. Currently operating out of 45,000 sf in Rockville, Shire Laboratories is an advanced pharmaceutical drug delivery company owned by Shire UK.

Bayer Corp. is developing Buildings 80 and 82, a $35-million warehouse and pharmaceutical packaging facility. Developed on a 14.5-acre brownfield site in Berkeley, the 150,000-sf project will be built by DPR Construction of Redwood City. Architects on the project team include EQE International and GEZ Architects, as well as Jacobs Engineering. Construction began in June 2001; planned completion in February 2002.

San Antonio-based pharmaceutical company Ilex Oncology expected to close in late May 2002 on a lease of 32,000 sf of newly refurbished Cambridge lab space. Ilex, currently leasing a smaller Boston space, plans to relocate in late fall to the Cambridge facility. The new lab is located in a 128,000-sf, four-story office building converted for lab use being finished by property owner and developer The Beal Cos. of Boston.

Novartis AG will lease the entire 255,000-sf Technology Square building and 150,000 sf nearby to establish the Novartis Institute for Biomedical Research in Cambridge. The Swiss pharmaceutical giant, Europe's third-largest drug manufacturer, will invest $255-million in the worldwide research headquarters that will eventually house 900 scientists.

Eli Lilly & Co. is prepared to invest as much as $1 billion in its planned synthetic insulin and drug manufacturing plant in Virginia. The pharmaceutical giant will employ up to 700 people at the new 600,000-sf Prince William County plant.

Ireland-based biotech firm Elan is investing $20.2-million in the expansion and redevelopment of its four-building neurology research campus in South San Francisco. The project includes construction of a $13-million lab complex in a newly leased 66,000-sf facility. Elan will also complete the renovation of an existing 44,000-sf lab within the next three months. The expansion will concentrate Elan’s 180 Bay Area researchers in a single campus, as well as provide space for 70 additional researchers.

Eli Lilly decided in May to locate its $425-million insulin manufacturing facility at the 124-acre Innovation@ Prince William business park in northern Virginia. The Innovation is focused on attracting biotechnology, bioinformatics, and forensic bioscience companies. The Eli Lily project, which will formulate, fill and package all forms of Humalog and Humulin insulin, is the company's first U.S. manufacturing plant outside Indiana. The plant will bring over 700 high-tech jobs to the region when it is fully operational in 2007. 

Gaithersburg, Md.-based Avalon Pharmaceuticals is seeking a 44,000- to 55,000-sf Montgomery County facility to house its R&D and administrative departments. Programming and design has begun for the planned analytical and organic chemistry laboratories for drug discovery. The facility may be pre-existing or a building that can be retrofitted or built-out.

Pharmaceutical company ViroPharma Inc. is expanding its 70,000-sf Exton office complex with the addition of 16,000 sf. The facility is located in Hankin Group's Eagleview corporate center.