Omnicare is planning a 56,235-sf expansion of its 56,600-sf headquarters in Covington, Ky. Project startup costs are estimated at approximately $3.2-million. Omnicare provides pharmaceutical services to the elderly.
The Düsseldorf, Germany-based Profil Institute for Metabolic Research is relocating its U.S. headquarters to 8,000-sf in Chula Vista, Calif. The facility is slated to open in October 2003 and will house administrative, research, and quality assurance operations. The Profil Institute is a clinical research organization that contracts with biotech and pharmaceutical firms to test experimental drugs for diabetes in metabolic disorders.
Japanese pharmaceutical company Kowa Co. has relocated its U.S. operations from San Jose, Calif., to 6,500 sf in Durham, N.C. Dubbed the Kowa Research Institute, the facility will accommodate drug technology research. Kowa is the first tenant in the 430 Davis Drive facility, a 152,000-sf Class A office building constructed by Keystone Corp.
Cleveland-based Quark Biotech will consolidate three offices in Pleasanton with a move to 20,000 sf in Fremont, Calif. The site is currently being renovated to house scientists engaged in drug development, including some drug discovery group employees developing microarrays that screen for possible drug targets. Occupancy is slated for August 2003.
BioMarin Pharmaceuticals will occupy 75,000 sf in two buildings at the Bel Marin Keys Park in Novato, Calif. BioMarin Pharmaceuticals already occupies five research and warehouse facilities at the park totalling approximately 158,000 sf.
EXP Pharmaceutical Services has leased 106,100 sf in Cal West Industrial Holdings’ Warm Springs Park in Fremont, Calif. The space includes over 90,000 sf of space for R&D and 15,000 sf for offices.
Pfizer has selected The S/L/A/M Collaborative to design a new phase I clinical trials facility in New Haven, Conn. The 65,000-sf facility, slated for completion in 2004, will house phase I clinical trials space as well as research, office, laboratory and support facilities. The location of the three-story facility will foster collaboration with Yale Medical School, providing access to its imaging equipment for additional drug research on a cellular level.
Brisbane, Calif.-based VaxGen has opened an $11-million facility in South San Francisco that will manufacture the company’s anthrax vaccine, AIDS vaccine, and products ranging from smallpox vaccine to monoclonal antibodies. The 17,000-sf facility is adjacent to the company’s research and development operations, and features stainless steel bioprocessors and purifiers. The facility can be easily reconfigured as manufacturing requirements change as much of the equipment is on wheels.
Houston-based Omega Protein Corp. is constructing a 60,000-sf fish oil processing facility in Reedville, Va. Built by Suitt Construction of Greenville, S.C., the $16-million project will produce more than 110 tons daily of proteins derived from fish oils. A separate mechanical building will house boilers, air compressors, cooling towers, chilled water equipment, and wastewater pretreatment. The facility is expected to reach completion in May 2004.
Pfizer Global Research & Development will complete four new facilities on its Torrey Pines campus in 2004, expanding the company’s R&D space to 1 million-sf. Two of the buildings, offices totalling 390,900-sf, were designed by Delawie Wilkes Rodriques and Barker, Zimmer Gunsul Frasca, and Kornberg & Associates. The contractor for the office facilities is DPR Construction.
Wyeth Vaccines is planning to lease approximately 82,000 sf of flex space in the Keystone Office and Industrial Park in Durham, N.C. The research laboratory is expected to open in 2003 and will house up to 100 researchers. Wyeth is continuing to develop its 472,000-sf Sanford campus, where it completed a 115,000-sf manufacturing expansion in December 2002. A 50,000-sf addition to the expansion is currently under way. Wyeth Vaccines is a business unit of Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, a division of Madison, N.J.-based Wyeth.
San Diego-based Structural GenomiX will lease a 10,000-sf facility for Eli Lilly & Co. as part of a research collaboration announced April 21, 2003. Lilly will install technology in the facility over the course of 12 to 18 months, after which Lilly can opt to transfer the system to its Indianapolis headquarters or staff the existing location. The facility will house 10 to 15 Structural Genomics scientists involved in determining the three-dimensional structure of several proteins that are potential targets for new drugs.
Pfizer has awarded Montbleau and Associates the contract for laboratory furniture and architectural woodwork at seven facilities totaling 500,000 sf in Torrey Pines, Calif. The project architect is Kornberg Associates with DPR Construction as general contractor.
Merck is developing a 300,000-sf research center in Boston slated for completion in 2004. Merck is also adding 35,000 sf to its 128,000-sf San Diego facility.
Centocor is planning to construct a new headquarters facility in Spring House, Pa., doubling the capacity of the Malvern site that the company will vacate. Occupancy is slated for the fourth quarter of 2005, with construction reaching completion by the end of 2006. Centocor will also relocate a majority of its operations from locations in Malvern, Radnor, and Trediffryn to 200,000-sf at the Commonwealth Corporate Center Horsham. The space will accommodate between 700 and 800 employees and will be renovated prior to the relocation.
