The Jackson Laboratory (JAX) is partnering with Wuhan Frasergen Bioinformatics to create a biomedical research center in Wuhan, China. The facility will support the transfer of basic research to clinical care to provide personalized medicine solutions for cancer and hereditary diseases. JAX's immunocompromised mice will be used as hosts for tumors donated by Chinese patients to enable the development of pharmaceutical therapies.
The University of Buffalo's John & Judith Kapoor Hall, the former Acheson Hall, was completely gutted and renovated, including interior walls and HVAC systems, to bring the building and its technologies into the 21st century for the School of Pharmacy. The 160,000-sf building was originally constructed as a chemistry building in 1959, with additions in 1962 and 1963.
WuXi PharmaTech broke ground in May of 2014 on a production facility for cell therapies in Philadelphia. The 45,000-sf clinical and commercial manufacturing project will feature flexible cleanrooms in a modular building design. Located in the Philadelphia Navy Yard, the cGMP facility is expected to begin production in the second quarter of 2015.
Novartis opened a $200 million facility in Singapore in April of 2014. Located in the Tuas Biomedical Park, the 330,000-sf building will accommodate pharmaceutical manufacturing operations for Novartis’ Alcon eye care division. The facility will support the production of drugs for glaucoma, allergies, and other conditions.
Pfizer opened the $30 million New Product Technology Laboratory in May of 2014 in Ireland. Located at Pfizer’s Ringaskiddy campus, the facility will produce advanced therapeutics for cancer, high cholesterol, and related health conditions.
Southern Research Institute, in collaboration with Galveston National Laboratory, announced in April of 2014 that they have developed a semi-automated high-throughput screening (HTS) platform that is capable of testing 10,000 compounds per day within BSL-4 biocontainment conditions. The methodology was developed studying the Nipah virus and may contribute to the successful identification of compounds with antiviral activity.
MPI Research opened the 10,000-sf Translational Imaging Center in May of 2014 in Mattawan, Mich. Created in partnership with 3D Imaging and inviCRO, the two-story facility will support advanced drug discovery research by providing molecular imaging, autoradiography, and animal modeling in a single location. The project is designed to expedite the translation of preclinical data into clinical data to mitigate risk in the pharmaceutical development process and includes a cyclotron and a vivarium.
Procter & Gamble (P&G) opened the Singapore Innovation Center in April of 2014. The facility features 250 laboratories housing approximately 500 investigators engaged in materials science, engineering, and biomedical R&D. The project includes a pilot manufacturing plant to support accelerated product development and a 3D printing suite for the creation of packaging. The LEED Silver facility is a zero-waste site and has attained Green Mark sustainable design certification.
Grifols’ North Fractionation Facility in Clayton, N.C., has been named the International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering (ISPE) 2014 Facility of the Year for Project Execution. Fluor provided integrated engineering, procurement, construction management, and front-end qualification for this 150,000-sf blood plasma fractionation facility, which was built using modular construction techniques to meet an aggressive construction schedule, incorporate new centrifuge technology, and expand existing plant utilities.
Charles River Laboratories opened a 58,000-sf animal research facility in April of 2014 in Spencerville, Ohio. The building provides vivarium space and labs for preclinical research on pharmaceutical compounds, medical devices, and chemicals. Construction on the facility began in 2007 and was halted in 2009, with recommencement of building work in October of 2013.
TNO Triskelion opened a BSL-3 vaccine testing laboratory in March of 2014 in Zeist. The facility will enable the contract research organization to develop drugs to combat viruses including avian influenza, SARS, and tuberculosis. The biocontainment lab conforms to GLP (Good Laboratory Practice) standards and is able to test treatments against all subtypes of influenza, whether avian or human.
The University of Connecticut began construction in June of 2015 on the 119,000-sf Innovation Partnership Building in Storrs. Designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, the $170 million project will provide flexible laboratories to support collaborative R&D with industry partners in advanced manufacturing, materials science, cyber infrastructure, pharmaceuticals, and biotechnology.
Aesica Pharmaceuticals opened the $50 million High Capacity Manufacturing Facility in Queenborough in the United Kingdom in February of 2014. Designed and built by Scitech, the project will produce one billion tablets a year at current capacity. A second phase of expansion will enable the plant to manufacture 2.5 billion tablets annually. The building features two 59-foot spray granulators and a 925-gallon MatCon IBC (intermediate bulk container). Kirk Saunders was the civil and structural engineer for the project.
Emory University’s 200,000-sf Health Sciences Research Building (HSRB) provides both wet and dry labs and BSL-2 and BSL-3 containment to pursue research in drug discovery, immunology and vaccines, neurosciences, cancer, gastroenterology, transplant immunology, nephrology, biomedical engineering, and human genetics.
Baxter Healthcare is building a $1 billion biopharmaceutical manufacturing campus in Covington, Ga. Located in the Stanton Springs development, the 1 million-sf complex will provide laboratories, manufacturing space, testing suites, and warehouse and distribution facilities to support the production of advance plasma-based therapeutics. Construction manager Fluor broke ground on the project in August of 2012 and completion is expected in 2016. Commercial production of biologics will commence in 2018 at the campus, which will accommodate 1,500 employees.
