Biomedical

Athenex is constructing a $210 million pharmaceutical plant in Dunkirk, N.Y. Supporting the production of advanced cancer therapies, the 409,000-sf complex will provide research, office, manufacturing, and warehouse space. General contractor Exyte broke ground on the facility in May of 2018, and commercial operations will commence at the site in early 2022. The project is part of a strategic infrastructure development plan to enable Athenex to offer vertically integrated oncology services from discovery through marketing.

Merck KGaA broke ground in early 2020 on the $275 Biotech Development Center in Corsier-sur-Vevey, Switzerland. Constructed adjacent to the company's existing commercial manufacturing campus, the 169,000-sf project will provide advanced research, development, and production facilities to support the creation of innovative biological compounds for clinical studies.

Eli Lilly and Company opened the 11,500-sf Lilly Life Sciences Studio in San Diego in January of 2020. Part of a $90 million investment to expand the company's research footprint, the laboratory leverages a robotic cloud platform created by Strateos to enable other drug discovery companies and investigators to access the remote-controlled facility.

Foghorn Therapeutics broke ground in January of 2020 on its 60,000-sf headquarters in Cambridge, Mass. Located in Kendall Square, the facility will provide chemistry and biology labs, open offices, conference rooms, huddle rooms, and an employee café. Foghorn will occupy over three floors in the building, which is owned by Alexandria Real Estate Equities and managed by CBRE.

The National Institutes of Health is planning to build a dementia research center in Bethesda, Md. The 24,000-sf facility will provide labs, open collaboration spaces, conference rooms, and offices to support the discovery of new diagnostic tools and treatments for Alzheimer's disease and related conditions. The single-story structure will be delivered in less than two years using modular construction technologies. The cost of the project has yet to be determined, with estimates ranging from $25 to $100 million.

St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital is constructing the $13.4 million Shared Resource Center in Memphis, Tenn. Accommodating 60 employees, the project will provide core laboratories and instrumentation suites to accelerate the discovery of new treatments for pediatric cancer and other diseases. Created inside an existing 300,000-sf warehouse, the 100,000-sf center will house: 

Emory University Hospital is constructing the $475 million Winship at Midtown in Atlanta. Designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill in collaboration with May Architecture + Interiors, the 17-story, 450,000-sf facility will provide the Winship Cancer Institute with integrated research and clinical spaces for the delivery of innovative personalized therapies.

Yale New Haven Hospital is planning to build an $838 million neuroscience center on its Saint Raphael campus in New Haven, Conn. Integrating research, patient care, and medical education, the 505,000-sf complex will include two patient facilities offering 204 beds, as well as translational laboratories for the creation of innovative therapies for Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, and strokes. An underground parking garage accommodating 200 vehicles will also be constructed.

The University of Strathclyde is renovating Wolfson Hall to house its department of biomedical engineering. Designed by McLean Architects and Wellwood Leslie Architects, the £15.5 million project will create new teaching and research labs, flexible instructional venues, engaging spaces for interaction and collaboration, and additional offices for faculty, staff, and graduate students.

Stevens Institute of Technology opened the $68 million Gateway Academic Center in December of 2019 in Hoboken, N.J. Designed by WRT, the 89,500-sf teaching and research facility is comprised of two buildings connected by a glass skybridge. The four-story complex provides 10 technology-rich classrooms, 13 labs, 45 faculty offices, conference rooms, reception halls, areas for student organizations, and multipurpose flex spaces.

Amgen has leased a 240,000-sf research facility located on the Gateway of Pacific campus in South San Francisco, Calif. Amgen will occupy the entire north tower, which is being constructed by BioMed Realty as part of the second phase of development at the site. Featuring modular wet and molecular labs designed for optimal energy efficiency, the facility will accommodate Amgen's research programs in oncology, inflammation, and cardiometabolic diseases.

Thomas Jefferson University is planning to build the $325 million Caroline Kimmel Biomedical Research Center in Philadelphia. Accommodating 56 NIH-funded investigators and their teams, the 12-story, 220,000-sf facility will enable the discovery of innovative treatments for cancer and other diseases. The project is designed to create a new research corridor and includes construction of a bridge to the adjacent Bluemle Life Sciences Building to foster connections with faculty and clinicians at the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center.

Emory University broke ground on a $260 million biomedical research facility in December of 2019 in Atlanta. Designed by HOK to promote synergy and innovation, the multidisciplinary building will offer 346,000 sf of dedicated research space for programs in biomedical engineering, imaging sciences, cardiovascular medicine, oncology, pediatric health, inflammation, emerging infections, and immunity and immunotherapeutics.

Vermeulens has released its market outlook report for the third quarter of 2019. Key points include:

HALIX opened a 72,000-sf biopharmaceutical development and manufacturing center in November of 2019 at Leiden Bio Science Park in the Netherlands. The five-story structure provides BSL-2 cleanrooms with unidirectional process flows that can easily be upgraded to BSL-3 as needed. A manufacturing line with a 250-liter bioreactor capacity supports the production of viral vaccines and viral vectors, while a separate protein manufacturing area accommodates single-use bioreactors with a capacity of up to 1,000 liters.