Pharmaceutical

EMD Serono broke ground in May of 2016 on a $12 million expansion of its biopharmaceutical manufacturing campus in Billerica, Mass. Accommodating 120 employees, the two-story, 30,000-sf facility will support the development of advanced therapies for the treatment of cancer and immunological conditions. The project will be constructed as an extension of the existing Sagamore Building and will feature open-plan work areas, a central auditorium, and numerous meeting spaces, including bleacher seating for spontaneous collaboration and interaction.

Shire Pharmaceuticals will begin construction in mid-2016 on a new biologics manufacturing campus in Piercetown, Ireland. Sited on 120 acres in County Meath, the project is part of Shire's $400 million investment over four years to expand its biopharmaceutical production capacity. The facility will utilize advanced bioprocessing technologies and will accommodate over 400 employees. Operations will commence at the site in mid-2019.

Global pharmaceutical manufacturer Lonza began construction in April of 2016 on a 100,000-sf facility in Pearland, Texas. Featuring a fully segregated fill/finish suite, the project will include eight independent cGMP modular cleanrooms with single-use bioreactors for the production of viral gene and virally modified therapeutics. Grade-B cleanrooms will also be constructed to continue the manufacture of EMA-regulated cell therapy products. Operations are expected to begin at the site in mid-2017.

Novo Nordisk broke ground in March of 2016 on a $1.8 billion pharmaceutical manufacturing plant in Clayton, N.C. Built by Fluor Corporation, the 833,000-sf facility will produce active pharmaceutical ingredients for diabetes treatments and will accommodate 700 employees. Construction is slated for completion in 2019 with full operations commencing in 2021. Novo Nordisk is based in Bagsvaerd, Denmark.

WuXi PharmaTech will begin construction in spring of 2015 on a 145,000-sf cGMP facility in Philadelphia. The project is expected to be operational by mid-2016 and will support the manufacture of cell therapy products for personalized medicine, including chimeric antigen receptor T cells.

Novartis and the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine celebrated the opening of the $27 million Center for Advanced Cellular Therapeutics in February of 2016 in Philadelphia. Accommodating the production of personalized cancer treatments using chimeric antigen receptor technology, the 30,000-sf facility features 23,610 sf of laboratory and cell therapy manufacturing space as well as a 6,300-sf cleanroom.

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals broke ground in April of 2016 on a $200 million manufacturing plant in Norton, Mass. Featuring RNA synthesis technologies with advanced purification methods, the 200,000-sf facility will accommodate up to 220 workers engaged in the production of innovative therapeutic agents. Jacobs Engineering Group will provide engineering and procurement services for the project. Completion is expected in 2018.

The UWM Innovation Accelerator, funded in part by a federal economic development grant as the first building in a planned Innovation Park, is a public-private partnership that collocates business, industry, and academic research to launch intellectual property. The two-story building is sited to leverage the technology available in nearby institutions, such as the Milwaukee County Medical Complex, Children’s Hospital, and the Medical College of Wisconsin, and to attract researchers, faculty, students, industry leaders, entrepreneurs, and investors.

SoBran BioScience is creating an animal research facility in Greensboro, N.C. Located on the north campus of the Gateway University Research Park, the laboratory and office building will support collaborative partnerships with North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. The facility will provide 8,500 sf of preclinical lab space designed to meet ISO 9001-2008 and GLP (Good Laboratory Practice) standards and attain full AAALAC accreditation.

Auburn University began construction in February of 2016 on two new health science facilities in Auburn, Ala. Designed to support advanced instruction in team-based healthcare, the $29 million School of Nursing will feature simulation labs, active learning classrooms, and spacious interdisciplinary teaching labs. The three-story, 89,000-sf building will also provide research space, faculty offices, conference rooms, a tiered auditorium, and a student lounge.

The International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering has announced the 2016 ISPE Facility of the Year Awards category winners:

OncoSec Medical Incorporated, a company developing DNA-based intratumoral cancer immunotherapies, opened its new headquarters and research facility in San Diego in December of 2015. Consolidating three previous offices, the 34,000-sf project houses over 50 employees and all of OncoSec's discovery research, clinical, and administrative activities under one roof. The facility features approximately 15,000 sf of technology-rich lab space that is strategically arranged to optimize workflow and minimize potential disruptions.

A backlog of construction, renovations, and upgrades may finally come to life, thanks to the $2 billion increase in NIH funding Congress approved in December, the first increase in more than 12 years. More than 80 percent of the $32 billion NIH budget is dedicated to extramural research—research outside the NIH itself—meaning that an additional $1.6 billion in research grants will be made available this year.

Eli Lilly and Company is initiating a $70 million expansion of its global research and development campus in Indianapolis. Providing an additional 130,000 sf of flexible lab space, the project will support collaborative, multidisciplinary research on small molecule pharmaceutical therapies. Completion is expected in 2017.

Illumina is expanding its San Diego operations with the development of a 300,000-sf facility for the production of technologies for genetic analysis. Designed by Ewing Cole, the project will create advanced manufacturing space, laboratories, offices, warehousing, and support. BNBuilders is providing both pre-construction and construction services for the interior buildout of the facility as well as the expansion of the central plant. Completion is expected in late 2016.