The University of Toronto opened the Myhal Centre for Engineering Innovation and Entrepreneurship in September of 2018. Designed by Montgomery Sisam Architects and Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios, the CAD$200 million project features a four-story atrium, TEAL classrooms for technology-enhanced active learning, design studios, fabrication and prototyping facilities, and a 468-seat auditorium.
Moderna Therapeutics opened a $110 million pharmaceutical manufacturing plant in July of 2018 in Norwood, Mass. Supporting phase one and two clinical development programs, the 200,000-sf facility will provide cGMP production and testing facilities for mRNA drug candidates, as well as housing a Personalized Cancer Vaccine (PCV) unit. Featuring sophisticated digital technologies for the integration of manufacturing operations, the building also houses quality control labs, plasmid production suites, preclinical labs, offices, and logistics space.
Atara Biotherapeutics opened a $55 million manufacturing facility in June of 2018 in Thousand Oaks, Calif. Designed by HPA Architects to meet LEED sustainable design criteria, the Atara T-cell Operations and Manufacturing (ATOM) center houses a 90,000-sf facility for the production of CAR-T allogeneic therapies, as well as additional R&D labs and offices. The project was developed by Sares-Regis Group with Atara signing a 15-year lease for the building.
Pfizer is planning to construct a 400,000-sf modular aseptic processing facility on its existing campus in Portage, Mich. Part of a $1.1 billion investment in Kalamazoo County over the next six years, the $465 million center will be one of the world’s most advanced facilities for the manufacture of sterile injectables.
Harvard University's Center for Climate Health and the Global Environment (C-CHANGE) has created the Healthy Buildings Program to study the effects of the built environment on health, productivity, and wellbeing. The nine foundations of a healthy building can optimize occupant health, preferably in a smoke-free environment with active design to promote movement.
Vertex Pharmaceuticals opened a 170,000-sf R&D facility in San Diego in June of 2018. Although over 70 percent of the Torrey Pines center is dedicated to research, the project also features a 4,000-sf business incubator suite and a 1,500-sf learning lab for STEAM programs in science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics. Alexandria Real Estate Equities oversaw construction of the leased site, which has attained LEED Gold sustainable design certification.
Merck will begin construction in the third quarter of 2018 on a biologics facility in County Dublin, Ireland. Located on Merck's 33-acre campus in Swords, the project includes the renovation and expansion of an existing 341,000-sf structure to create a 470,000-sf facility offering laboratory, production, and warehouse space. The state-of-the-art pharmaceutical plant will manufacture protein therapeutics derived from mammalian cell cultures. Occupancy is expected in 2021.
Thomas Jefferson University is planning to create the Jefferson Institute for Bioprocessing in Lower Gwynedd, Pa. Located at Spring House Innovation Park, the 25,000-sf facility is being developed in partnership with the National Institute for Bioprocessing Research and Training (NIBRT) based in Dublin, Ireland. As the only center of its kind in North America, the project will leverage the renowned NIBRT curriculum to deliver state-of-the-art education and training programs in biopharmaceutical processing to approximately 2,500 people annually.
SAB Biotherapeutics will occupy 41,000 sf in University of South Dakota's Discovery District in Sioux Falls. SAB, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, will locate its corporate headquarters, research labs, and a cGMP suite in the 84,000-sf building, which was designed by Perkins+Will and Architecture Incorporated. Alumend, a subsidiary of Avera, will occupy 7,500 sf in the $31 million facility, which will also house the offices of the USD Discovery District and 20,000 sf of leasable space.
Cambrex Corporation, a leading manufacturer of small molecule innovator and generic Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs), completed an expansion of its pilot plant in High Point in May of 2018. The project included the installation and commissioning of a fourth reactor suite, increasing the site's capacity by approximately 30 percent. The 400-sf suite houses two 2,000-liter glass-lined reactors and a Hastelloy C22 filter dryer, allowing the manufacture of batch sizes between 10 and 100 kilograms under cGMP conditions.
AstraZeneca opened its 163,000-sf South San Francisco facility in May of 2018. Located in the Cove at Oyster Point, the project houses a total of 400 employees from four organizations: Acerta Pharma, MedImmune, Pearl Therapeutics, and Technology Innovation & Delivery Excellence (TIDE). Designed by HOK to promote collaboration and innovation, the open lab and office environments incorporate AstraZeneca’s iWork philosophy, an activity-based approach that embraces industry best practices.
The University of Houston opened the $145 million Health 2 facility in May of 2018. Designed by Shepley Bulfinch, the nine-story, 300,000-sf project is the university's second health and biosciences building and houses the College of Pharmacy, the Department of Health and Human Performance, the Student Health Services Clinic, and the Primary Care and Behavior Clinics.
Global biopharmaceutical company Bristol-Myers Squibb opened a 62,000-sf biologics discovery center on its Redwood City campus in April of 2018. Designed by Stantec to support the development of new cancer therapies, the facility provides research labs and 115 perimeter workstations in an open office environment. The building is illuminated by abundant natural light and offers huddle rooms and conference rooms adjoining the main circulation area to enhance collaboration.
Zoetis broke ground in April of 2018 on a 463,000-sf animal vaccine center in Suzhou, China. Combining research and development operations with integrated manufacturing and supply, the facility will produce vaccines for swine, cattle, fish, and companion animals. Offering sophisticated innovation suites and certified GMP laboratories, the project will support research on disease threats prevalent in China with a primary focus on aquaculture.
Lonza opened a 300,000-sf cell and gene therapy manufacturing center in April of 2018 in Pearland, Texas. The facility features eight independent cGMP modular cleanrooms with single-use bioreactors and a fully segregated fill/finish suite. Supporting the development of new therapies from initial concept through the pre-clinical, clinical, and commercialization phases, the integrated building includes research labs, offices, manufacturing and production spaces, and support.
