Industry News

JTC Corporation is planning to construct Biopolis Phase 4 in the Buona Vista district in Singapore. The development will cost between $80,000 and $100,000 and will add 40,000 gsm of biomedical science facilities. Providing R&D laboratories and space for pre-clinical pharmaceutical trials, the project is slated for completion by early 2013.

Danbury Hospital will begin construction in 2010 on a $140 million expansion of the Tower Building in Danbury, Conn. Housing a new emergency department, ICU and critical care facilities, and a medical/surgical floor, the project is slated for completion in 2014.

The University of Florida celebrated the opening of the $60 million Emerging Pathogens Institute in Gainesville in January of 2010. Providing BSL-2 and BSL-3 research laboratories, the 80,000-sf building supports research on select agents and pathogens that affect human, animal, and plant populations. Housing 150 researchers, the 108,000-sf facility provides 28 labs, three BSL-3 greenhouses, offices, and support.  Ground was broken on the project in February of 2008. LEED Silver certification will be sought for the project.

The Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism released an evaluation of the United States’ biosecurity measures in January of 2010. The report asserts that the nation is ill-prepared for a biological attack and recommends a restructuring of biothreat response protocols and oversight. For more information, read the report card (PDF).

The State of Maryland will break ground by year-end 2010 on the 200,000-sf Public Health Laboratory in East Baltimore. The $180 million facility will house 250 employees and is slated for completion in late 2013. The project will be sited on two acres in the Science + Technology Park at Hopkins and will house 41 high-level biocontainment laboratories.