Industry News

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 University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences’ expansion of the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute is slated for completion in 2010. The 300,000-sf, 12-story project will house research and clinical facilities. The first $130 million construction phase will include seven completed floors. The project team is comprised of Cromwell Architects Engineers of Little Rock, FKP Architects of Houston, and CDI Contractors.

The University of California, Riverside will begin construction in 2010 on a $508 million complex for its new medical school. Sited on 40 acres, the project includes two research and medical instruction facilities and a vivarium for animal research. The medical school will initially occupy a renovated building when it opens in 2012.

Pradco (Plastic Research and Development Co.) is planning to build a $21 million manufacturing facility in Fort Smith, Ark. Sited in the 7,000-acre Chaffee Crossing corporate park, the 300,000-sf facility will more than double Pradco’s plastic manufacturing operations.

Stempeutics Research opened a 5,000-sf stem cell research facility on the campus of Manipal University in India in July of 2008. Located at Shirdi Sai Baba Cancer Hospital, the cGMP laboratory will support therapeutics research and production with two Class 10,000 cleanrooms. The facility is designed to USA Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy (FACT) standards and employ cGTP (current Good Tissue Practice) manufacturing processes.