Pharmaceutical

Cerilliant Corp., a provider of chemical services and samples, is expanding its operations with a move to Round Rock, Texas, from Austin. Currently housed in a cramped 12,000 sf, Cerilliant will occupy 32,000 sf of the 40,000-sf AmorRon 3 building. Slated for late April, the move will involve substantial improvements including construction of an extensive laboratory facility. The relocation was prompted by a need for more space to accommodate current and projected company growth.

Incyte Genomics Inc., based in Palo Alto, Calif., will move into 53,100 sf at DuPont’s Stine-Haskell Research Center in Newark while the biotech company searches for a permanent East Coast facility for its therapeutic discovery and development work. Incyte hopes to secure approximately 90,000 sf of research, lab, and office space to accommodate 140 R&D staff in the next two years, and a total of 200 employees by 2005. Biotech and pharmaceutical companies, as well as research and academic institutions, use Incyte’s genomics technologies and products.

The Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center is seeking up to 150,000 sf in San Francisco for its new home. The Emeryville, Calif.-based clinic has considered Catellus Development's Mission Bay and some south of Market locations. Proximity to research and funding collaborator UCSF is a factor in the possible relocation to San Francisco. The Gallo Clinic performs research in neuroscience, cell biology, molecular biology, pharmacology, and biochemistry, seeking genetic keys and therapies for alcohol and drug abuse.

Ardent Pharmaceuticals plans to develop 10,000 sf in Durham adjacent to 15,000 sf that Ardent relocated to last year from its Research Triangle Institute location. Development awaits completion of an upcoming round of clinical trials and could begin as early as July. Ardent, formerly Delta Pharmaceuticals, manufactures chronic pain medication and is expecting to employ 48 workers by early 2003.   

Bayer is considering both Research Triangle Park and Kansas City, Mo., as potential expansion locations. RTP has offered the merged operations of Bayer and Aventis CropScience a strong package to locate its American headquarters in the Triangle. Bayer currently has manufacturing and toxicology facilities in Kansas City and employs 1300 workers in those facilities and in facilities across the Missouri River in Stilwell and Shawnee, Kan. The efficiency of having all functions centrally located in Kansas City could affect Bayer's decision.

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) plans to move 800 employees into a new five-story building under construction at the Renaissance Corporate Center, a 250-acre office park in Gulph Mills. Liberty Property Trust is building the $40-million, 200,000-sf build-to-suit, which is located across the street from the company’s other research and office operations. GSK is also considering expansion at its Upper Merion, Penn., location.

Wyeth-Lederle, a subsidiary of Madison, N.J.-based American Home Products, completed a 40,000-sf addition to its Sanford facility in 2001 and has embarked on an additional 115,000-sf expansion. The $125-million project will increase employment from 540 to 800 workers, making Wyeth-Lederle the fourth-largest North Carolina biotech employer. The 345,000-sf facility will include manufacturing and R&D space. Wyeth-Lederle currently owns 215 acres in Sanford.

Cell Genesys, based in Foster City, Calif., plans to develop a 35,000-sf manufacturing facility in Memphis for the production of the GVAX cancer vaccine. Completion is scheduled for the end of 2002.  The company also plans to relocate its headquarters from Foster City to a new 280,000-sf facility in South San Francisco. In addition, a $60-million, 41,000-sf manufacturing plant is under construction in Hayward, Calif.

Rib-X Pharmaceuticals is planning a new 26,400-sf lab and office facility at New Haven’s 300 George Biotech Laboratory complex. Jung/Brannen Associates, based in Boston, has completed architectural design for the structure, which will accommodate research, a computational chemistry lab, facilities for wet-lab chemistry, and administrative offices.

Merck & Co. is planning a new 300,000-gsf biotechnology research facility on the campus of Emmanuel College in Boston’s Fenway neighborhood. Designated as Merck Research Laboratories-Boston, the structure will have twelve stories above ground and six below, and will house scientists, support staff, and administrative personnel when it opens in 2004.

Opexa Pharmaceuticals has selected PageSoutherlandPage Architects, Engineers, and Consultants of Houston to provide architecture, engineering, commissioning, and validation support services for Opexa’s new manufacturing facility. The 27,000-sf structure will include corporate offices and a new production facility to manufacture pharmaceuticals for autoimmune diseases, focusing on multiple sclerosis.

Plans to construct a second insulin manufacturing plant in Clayton have been put on hold by Novo Nordisk Pharmaceuticals' Danish parent company due to research delays. The plant would manufacture insulin in the form of an inhalant, the clinical trials of which have been delayed. Novo Nordisk's existing insulin manufacturing plant occupies 50 of 260 acres owned by the pharmaceutical firm in Clayton; the new plant would be constructed adjacent to it.

Abbot Labs, based in Illinois, is proposing to build a West Coast R&D headquarters at the former 35-acre Cargill Salt site in Redwood City. The site is adjacent to Perclose, the medical device manufacturer recently purchased by Abbott. Phase I of the one-million-sf project would accommodate approximately 500 employees in 250,000 sf of lab and office space, where the pharmaceutical and diagnostic company will expand its cardiac product line. By the end of 2002, Abbott anticipates completion of the planning, design, and review of the project.

Chiron Corp. is seeking approval from the city of Emeryville to begin construction in summer 2002 on a new 365,000-sf lab and office complex at its Emeryville headquarters.  The new facility would expand Chiron’s manufacturing space for drugs awaiting approval. If approved, the expansion could take up to two years to complete.  Construction of a 1,000-space parking structure for the new building is already nearing completion.

 Wyeth-Ayerst has commissioned Ewing Cole Cherry Brott of Philadelphia in collaboration with Fluor Daniel to provide architecture and engineering services for a new vaccine development center. The building will consolidate the company's vaccine development centers currently located throughout the United States, reducing product development and manufacturing cycle time. It will include development process labs, analytical labs, various levels of biocontainment space, a research library, conference center, offices, and an employee cafeteria.