Biocontainment

The University of Louisville is constructing the $34.6 million Center for Predictive Medicine on its East Louisville campus in Shelby County, Ky. The 37,000-sf project is an NIH-funded Regional Biodefense Laboratory and houses BSL-3 facilities for research on emerging infectious diseases and bioterrorism prevention. The building broke ground in 2006 and is slated for occupancy in summer of 2009. The project contractor is Messer of Cincinnati with International Commissioning Engineers as commissioning agent.

The University of Kentucky broke ground on a $28.5 million expansion and renovation of the Kentucky Livestock Disease Diagnostic Center in Lexington in September of 2008. The project will include the construction of a necropsy laboratory wing and an administrative wing, nearly doubling the size of the existing 38,000-sf building, which will be completely renovated. The facility will also switch to alkaline digestion for tissue disposal. Completion is expected by 2010.

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.

The University of Queensland opened the $33 million Centre for Advanced Animal Science (CAAS) on its Gatton campus in September of 2008. The biocontainment facility will house laboratories for disease and vaccine research, group and individual animal pens, and cattle handling facilities. The project was designed by S2F and built by McNab Constructions. CAAS is a joint venture of the University of Queensland and the Queensland Government.

Montana State University dedicated the Jutila Research Laboratory and the Johnson Family Livestock Facility in August of 2008. The $2.5 million, 3,500-sf Jutila Research Lab accommodates BSL-3 infectious disease research. The $3.4 million, 7,500-sf Johnson Family Livestock Facility will support BSL-2 large animal veterinary research.

Boston University Medical Center’s $198 million BSL-4 laboratory at BioSquare in Boston will reach completion by October of 2008. Housing the National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories, the seven-story, 192,000-sf facility will open in April of 2009. The project contractors are McCarthy and Turner Construction.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security will dedicate the National Biodefense Analysis & Countermeasures Center (NBACC) on October 22, 2008. Part of the National Interagency Biodefense Campus at Fort Detrick in Frederick, Md., NBACC will support biological threat characterization and bioforensic research. The 160,000-sf lab will employ approximately 120 people and will include a vivarium and BSL-3 and BSL-4 laboratories.

North Carolina State University opened the Man-in-Simulant Test (MIST) laboratory in Raleigh in mid-2008. Located in NC State's College of Textiles, the facility will allow researchers to evaluate the capabilities of protective garments against non-toxic vapors that resemble chemical and biological agents. The laboratory is the only one of its kind located at a university in the United States and was funded by a two-year, $2 million grant from the Department of Defense.

The Department of Homeland Security announced the finalists for the possible location of the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF) in August of 2008. The five locations reported as finalists are:

Australia’s CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization) opened its high-throughput diagnostic emergency response center in Geelong in July of 2008. The leading edge laboratory will provide rapid testing of samples for animal diseases such as foot and mouth or equine influenza. Providing a core diagnostic area, a test development and validation facility, and space for predictive biomodeling, the secure facility is able to perform serology tests on up to 10,000 samples per day in the event of an outbreak.

The Department of Health occupied its 5,285-sf BSL-3 laboratory in Washington, D.C., on May 29, 2008. Planning for the $9.6 million project began in 1999. The facility will support rapid identification of emerging disease agents and potential biological threats with the capacity to perform up to 30,000 tests per year.

The Hunan Provincial Government is partnering with Microbix Biosystems to construct an influenza vaccine manufacturing complex in the Hunan Liuyang Biomedical Industrial Park in China. The $200-million jointly-owned project, one of the largest flu vaccine production facilities worldwide, will be managed by Microbix and will utilize the company’s VIRUSMAX technology.

Tufts University is building the $25.9 million Regional Biocontainment Laboratory in North Grafton, Mass. Part of the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, the facility is funded in part by $19.35 million from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. The 38,000-gsf facility is sited on 5.4 acres in the Grafton Science Park and will include 23,290-sf of mechanical and basement space.

Ark Therapeutics Group opened a $19.1 million GMP-3 manufacturing facility in Kuopio, Finland, in July of 2008. The commercial scale production plant is connected to Ark's existing laboratory suites and will manufacture gene-based medicines. The BSL-2 facility features a 547-sm cleanroom with HEPA air filtration. The duration of construction for the project was three years.

The University of Minnesota will construct a plant pathogen laboratory with greenhouses on its St. Paul campus. The project was approved by the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service in June of 2008 and will accommodate research on diseases such as the virulent stem rust Ug99. The secure facility will feature advanced air filtration and containment technologies.