Pharmaceutical

Alpha Therapeutics Corporation has awarded a contract to Ware & Malcomb Architects of Woodland Hills, Calif., for the design of the tenant improvement methods validation development laboratory expansion. The project includes the design and build out of a full new methods development lab space located within the company’s Quality Control facility. Construction of the project will complete the company’s latest development of existing methods validation development facilities for their various pharmaceutical biological products.

Merial has plans to relocate and consolidate its five major U.S. animal health operations to several sites in Georgia. A suburb of Atlanta will be selected for the company's North American headquarters, where 400 employees will be housed. The company's Athens, Ga., manufacturing and research facility will accommodate an additional 80 relocated R&D employees. The University of Georgia will be the site of a planned pilot vaccine development facility, where Merial would manufacture both animal and human vaccines.

Praecis Pharmaceuticals, based in Cambridge, Mass., will relocate its headquarters and R&D lab operations to a new 175,000-sf structure in Waltham. The three-story shell was designed by Jung Brannen Associates of Boston; the contractor that built the shell was John Moriarty & Associates of Winchester. Praecis will use the same firms to complete the facility. Praecis will move into all but 32,000 sf of the facility in early 2001, subleasing the unoccupied space until needed.

Idec Pharmaceuticals Corp., based in San Diego, received approval in August from the City of Oceanside to build a full-scale manufacturing plant there. An incentive for Idec to locate in Oceanside was the city’s agreement to build a $1.2-million “brine line” that will funnel wastewater from the Idec plant to the ocean. The $1.25-billion project will be built in three phases at the Ocean Ranch Corporate Center. Phase one will be a 362,000-sf manufacturing and R&D facility, with completion anticipated in July 2003.

Abgenix Inc. is expanding with a new $50 million, 200,000-sf complex at Ardenwood Corporate Park in Fremont. The interior of an existing 100,000-sf shell building will be customized and a new 100,000-sf structure will be built on adjacent property. Abgenix will use its existing nearby facility for R&D, shifting the corporate headquarters, offices, and labs to the new complex. Construction is scheduled to begin in summer 2000, with completion in approximately 14 months. The general contractor is Sobrato Development Cos. of Cupertino, Calif.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) plans to have a guide in place by January 2001 for hospitals on "The Policy of the Reuse of Single Use Devices".

The strategy proposes the following:-to treat hospitals that reprocess single use devices in the same way it treats device manufactures

-to require submission of premarketing data as if reprocessors were seeking to market device for the first time

-to require reprocessors to label single use devices and provide instructions for use.

The National Fire and Protection Agency (NFPA) has partnered with Western Fire Chiefs Association (WFCA) and the International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials (IAPMO) to build a set of Consensus Codes--a new set of codes for the built environment. Their goal is to provide safety officials with a new consistent and compatible set of codes by the year 2003. As part of the Consensus Code project NFPA also plans to devise a NFPA Building Code.

Merck & Company is building a new 220,000-sf office facility at its headquarters site in Whitehouse Station, N.J. The building was designed by Ballinger of Philadelphia, and will occupy an undeveloped 250-acre parcel adjacent to the headquarters. The three-story buildling can house 800 employees at capacity, and is designed with an open office plan. Amenities include dining areas, training/conference facilities, a fitness center, and credit union.

Boehringer Ingelheim Corp., headquartered in Ridgefield, Conn., has a $52 million expansion underway at its manufacturing plant in Petersburg, south of Richmond. The facility manufactures pharmaceutical compounds and ingredients for prescription drugs.

BASF Bioresearch Corp. (BBC) has begun a $37 million construction project at its facility near the Worcester Biotechnology Park. The existing 365,000-sf structure will undergo the addition of 6,600 sf of warehouse space and the conversion of 36,800 sf to office and space to manufacture the pharmaceutical company's arthritis drug. Completion of the project is scheduled for June 2001. BBC is the biotech unit of BASF Pharma, which is a subsidiary of BASF AG.

US Food and Drug Administration's Phase II consolidation includes a new headquarters at the 700-acre site of the former Naval Surface Warfare Center in Montgomery County, Md. Pending approval of an advance $101,239,000 appropriation in the fiscal 2001 budget, construction would begin in fall 2000 on the new 111,250-sf Center for Drug Evaluation and Research Laboratories. The design for a new lab and office for the Center for Devices and Radiological Health would be included in the appropriation as well.

Wyeth-Lederle Vaccines and Pediatrics plans to produce two new vaccines at its plant in Sanford. Part of the existing 160,000-sf facility will be renovated and a 46,400-sf addition will be built. Wyeth-Lederle has awarded a contract for renovation of three of the labs to InServ's Construction Services Group. The total project cost is $48 million, most of which will purchase new equipment needed for the vaccine products. Wyeth-Lederle is a division of American Home Products Corp.

Aventis SA, based in Strasbourg, France, is expanding its Genomics Center in Cambridge. Completion of the $3 million renovation, which will improve lab and office space at the pharmaceutical company, is anticipated in mid-July. Kennedy & Rossi Inc. of Lexington, Mass., is in charge of the project.

Quintiles Transnational is building a new $3.4 million, 103,000-sf facility, Bradford Place, to consolidate its ten Research Triangle Park offices in one location. Construction began in July 1999 and is scheduled for completion in June 2000. Architects for the project are WGM Design Inc., based in Charlotte, N.C., and Bell/Knott Associates, based in Kansas City, Kan. The general contractor is the Raleigh, N.C., office of Shelco Inc., headquartered in Charlotte.

Tompkins Associates and MARC Systems have entered into a strategic alliance to offer seamless supply chain solutions to the pharmaceutical and health care industries. Through the joint efforts of the respective sales and marketing teams, Tompkins and MARC Systems will enable clients to integrate supply chain execution software with operations best practices. With its extensive functionality and strict inventory control, the MARC product suite is utilized by major pharmaceutical companies to distribute some of the most carefully controlled substances in use.