Roche opened a $4.4 million pharmaceutical research facility in Madison, Wis., in April of 2009. The project involved renovation of a 24,000-sf building in the University of Madison Research Park to house R&D laboratories for the study of RNA interference and gene therapy. The facility will house 45 employees.
Pfizer dedicated its newly renovated laboratory and office facility in Kalamazoo, Mich., in April of 2009. The 780,000-sf project will serve as the global headquarters for Pfizer’s animal genetics and veterinary medicine R&D operations. Housing 680 employees, the $75 million project will consolidate staff from Richland Township, Pa., and Sandwich, U.K.
Ferring Pharmaceuticals opened its biopharmaceutical research facility in San Diego in April of 2009. Designed by Kornberg Associates, the 38,000-sf project transformed an existing single-story structure into a two-story laboratory and research office complex. The building includes a video conferencing room and an interstitial floor for HVAC equipment. Housing organic, peptide, and analytical chemistry labs, the facility features mobile workbenches and cabinets that connect to a horizontal utility umbilical for maximum flexibility.
Covance celebrated the official opening of its $175 million animal research facility in Chandler, Ariz., in late March of 2009. The two-story, 288,000-sf pharmaceutical testing facility includes five laboratories, a vivarium, animal care space, and a 100-seat auditorium. Construction began on the project in June of 2007 and reached completion in May of 2008. The facility is sited on 77 acres and houses mice, rats, dogs, and monkeys. A second expansion phase is planned at the facility that could begin construction in 2011. Covance is based in Princeton, N.J.
Bristol-Myers Squibb opened its 20,000-sf research and development facility in Bangalore, India, in March of 2009. Located in Biocon Park, the project will house 270 researchers engaged in pharmaceutical discovery and drug development. Construction began on the project in March of 2007.
ZUELLIG Pharma opened a $40 million distribution center in Singapore in early March of 2009. Housing the company’s Specialty Solutions Group, the facility will enable Zuellig to expand clinical trials operations in Asia.
Strathclyde University is constructing the £35 million Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences in Glasgow. Designed by Sheppard Robson, the 8,000-sm multidisciplinary facility will support drug discovery and pharmaceutical R&D as well as housing the departments of physiology, bioscience, immunology, pharmaceutical sciences, and pharmacology. The six-story project will include a 160-seat teaching lab, research labs, interactive write-up spaces, and a pharmaceutical cleanroom.
Abbott Laboratories opened its $300 million pediatric nutrition manufacturing plant in February of 2009 in Tuas South, Singapore. Located in Tuas Biomedical Park 2, the 5,000-sm facility will accommodate 300 employees. Abbott is also planning to open a $20 million nutrition science R&D center at Biopolis, where it opened its first Asian pharmaceutical R&D facility in January of 2009.
Millipore opened the 8,000-sf Biomanufacturing Sciences and Training Center (BSTC) in Singapore in February of 2009. Located in Science Park in Buona Vista, the facility will provide training and support for Millipore’s biopharmaceutical customers in Asia. Millipore is a global life sciences company based in Billerica, Mass.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services awarded Novartis a $486 million contract in early 2009 to build pandemic flu vaccine manufacturing facilities in Holly Springs, N.C. The funding will support the design, construction, and validation of flu vaccine production centers over the next eight years, enabling Novartis to supply 150 million doses of cell-based influenza vaccine within six months of the onset of a pandemic.
Roche is constructing a new pharmaceutical R&D facility in Basel, Switzerland. Designed by Herzog & de Meuron, Building 97 represents an investment of 250 million Swiss francs and is comprised of two wings reaching five and nine stories high with three basement floors. Building 97 will support 100 researchers. Construction began in August of 2008 with completion expected in the third quarter of 2011.
Abbott celebrated the opening of its new pharmaceutical research and development laboratory in Buona Vista, Singapore, in January of 2008. Located in the Biopolis research park, the facility is Abbott’s first R&D center in Southeast Asia and will support research on active pharmaceutical ingredients. Abbott is also building a nutritional product manufacturing plant in Singapore.
Scripps Research Institute will celebrate the opening of the three-building Scripps Florida campus in Jupiter on February 26, 2009. The 350,000-sf project is sited on 40 acres adjoining Florida Atlantic University and houses biomedical research laboratories, technology space, and offices.
SRI International will open the $16.7 million Center for Advanced Drug Research in Harrisonburg, Va., in August of 2009. Sited on 25 acres in the Rockingham Center for Research and Technology business park, the 40,000-sf building is being constructed by Nielsen Builders. The three-story facility will house offices and laboratories for pharmaceutical research.
The Wistar Institute opened a $1.1 million molecular screening facility on its Philadelphia campus in December of 2008. The facility was created in partnership with the University of the Sciences as the centerpiece of the Center for Chemical Biology and Translational Medicine. Using advanced screening technologies, scientists will be able to identify and characterize new molecules and compounds to create therapeutic drugs.
