Biomedical

Allentown, an industry leader in research animal housing solutions, is offering a webinar on May 20, 2020. "Benefits of Biocontainment" will address the global challenges facing the animal housing industry and the ways in which biocontainment protocols can help address some of these issues when employed in the Allentown BCU-2 IVC and Cage system.

The webinar will be aired in two sessions at 10:00 AM and 1:00 PM EDT. 

To register, visit Allentown, Inc.
 

Thermo Fisher Scientific is planning to build a $180 million viral vector development and manufacturing facility in Plainville, Mass. Featuring flexible and scalable production suites, the 290,000-sf structure will leverage advanced digital technologies to enhance operational efficiencies.

Biogen completed construction in late spring of 2020 on a leading-edge biologics manufacturing center in Luterbach, Switzerland. Representing an investment of $1.5 billion, the modular and flexible facility leverages Biogen’s latest strategies for fed-batch cell culture technologies and protein purification processes. Offering two cell manufacturing lines, the 260,000-sf complex features two production buildings, each housing four 15,000-liter bioreactors. The campus also provides laboratories, offices, maintenance buildings, and a warehouse.

Global pharmaceutical firm XBiotech is planning to construct a 30,000-sf R&D laboratory in Austin, Texas. The facility will accelerate the creation of innovative treatments for infectious diseases. The project will be sited on the company's 48-acre headquarters campus, which includes a 33,000-sf research and manufacturing center that is also undergoing expansion to accommodate greater output, a larger workforce, increased inventory, and around-the-clock production operations.

The University of Maine began construction in May of 2020 on the $78 million Ferland Engineering Education and Design Center in Orono. Designed by Ellenzweig and WBRC Architects/Engineers to promote experiential learning, the 108,000-sf facility will feature hands-on teaching labs for programs in mechanical and biomedical engineering. The three-story multidisciplinary building will also offer instructional spaces, capstone project rooms, a collaboration commons, conference rooms, informal meeting areas, and offices for faculty and staff.

Hixson is offering a free webinar at 2:00 PM EDT on May 14, 2020. "Optimizing Your Lab Facility: Removing Roadblocks to Success" will enable facilities planning and management professionals to learn how to identify barriers to R&D lab performance; discover design and engineering solutions that can reduce or eliminate lab constraints; and develop a winning business case to make strategic capital investments for facility improvements.

Many existing lab spaces are filled with roadblocks that cause them to be less than ideal: 

E4H Architecture presented a webinar on modular facilities for accelerating vaccine development on May 8, 2020. Now available as an on-demand recording, the exciting session is led by Jeff Schantz, Director of Health Sciences and Technology at E4H. Jeff reviews planning strategies for adapting multi-therapeutic cGMP/BSL-3 cleanroom modules for SARS-CoV-2 response and cell therapy development. Presentation topics include regulatory guidelines, HVAC requirements, design and flow considerations, and decontamination strategies.

Exicure, a clinical-stage biotechnology firm, has leased 30,000 sf in The Labs in Chicago. Accommodating headquarters and research operations relocated from Skokie, Ill., the facility will accelerate the creation of innovative therapies for genetic disorders, inflammatory diseases, and cancer. 

The Vaccines Manufacturing Innovation Centre (VIMC) is being constructed on an accelerated schedule in Oxford in the United Kingdom. Ground was broken on the £66 million project in April of 2020 and occupancy is expected in 2021, a year earlier than previously planned.

The Human Technopole Foundation is planning to construct a 592,000-sf biomedical research campus in the MIND Milano Innovation District in Italy. Designed by Piuarch, the Human Technopole Campus will include a ten-story, 377,000-sf facility offering 177,000 sf of dedicated laboratory space. Comprising two flexible volumes connected by a full-height atrium, the $102 million building will include advanced instrumentation suites, 800 investigator workstations, meeting rooms, event venues, and space for several research centers.

Price Industries is significantly increasing production of its air filtration systems in response to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Instantly creating a negative-pressure isolation room, the company's fan filter unit can draw airborne virus out through a biosafety filter for expulsion through the building's exhaust vent or directly to the outside. The units can dramatically reduce airborne virus in healthcare environments such as nursing stations and temporary hospitals, and can even be used in hotel rooms that have been repurposed as care facilities.

The International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) has assembled a task force to address the role of the built environment in reducing the impact of SARS-CoV-2 and other respiratory infections. Aiming to define the critical role that buildings, organizations, and communities play in infectious disease management, the work will take a broad approach in considering both new and recurring agents that can affect large populations.

Novo Nordisk completed a $5.1 million tenant renovation and expansion project in March of 2020 in Fremont, Calif. In just four months, MAI Construction remodeled the subleased 44,000-sf facility to provide Asterias Biotherapeutics with leading-edge research, production, and office spaces to support the creation of innovative stem cell therapies. The four-phase project included the construction of new cGMP Grade B manufacturing labs, as well as a materials lift and canopy for the area's shipping and receiving area.

The International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering has announced the 2020 Facility of the Year Awards category winners. The awards include:

The Australian government has awarded AUD$220 million in federal funding to the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) for upgrades to its biocontainment research facilities in Geelong. Constructed 35 years ago, the Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness (formerly the Australian Animal Health Laboratory) is a secure campus with four laboratory structures offering BSL-4 research space.