Mid-Atlantic Claims $8.5 Billion Slice of $62 Billion North American Life Science Capital/MRO Investment Pie

Reported by Annette Kreuger, Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--There are more than 1,400 active reported Pharmaceutical-Biotech capital and maintenance (MRO) projects in North America, representing a total investment value (TIV) of nearly $62 billion. According to a recent analysis of Industrial Info's Pharmaceutical-Biotech Industry database, the Mid-Atlantic region is at the top of that investment, accounting for an $8.5 billion portion of that spending divided over 176 projects.

Click on the image at right to view a chart showing the breakdown of active pharmaceutical-biotech projects in the Mid-Atlantic region.

The Mid-Atlantic has long been a favorite of the industry, hosting an impressive roster of the top biotech and pharmaceutical companies, along with nascent but promising start-ups. Home to some of the nation's most modern vaccine manufacturing plants, the region continues to attract "old-school" (i.e. tablets, injectables) pharmaceutical processing plants as well. The projects in play range from $1 million annual maintenance programs all the way up to an $800 million federal biodefense laboratory campus expansion project. Project activity varies from early planning to active construction status.

Of the $8.5 billion worth of industry capital investment in the Mid-Atlantic, $4.3 billion, divided over 51 sites, are already under construction. That leaves a healthy $4.2 billion to be invested into 125 projects that have a future kick-off date.

The region includes the states of Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Washington D.C. and West Virginia. Of these, Maryland is the leader in attracting industry spending, with nearly $4 billion earmarked into 30 active projects. Currently, the state boasts a whopping project average TIV of $133 million. There are 15 projects valued at $2 billion that are still in development.

North Carolina is in second place, with 96 projects valued at $2.5 billion. The average project TIV is $24 million. Of this total, 25 projects worth $1.3 billion are still in planning.

Illustrating the allure of the region is United Therapeutics Corporation (NASDAQ:UTHR) (Silver Spring, Maryland). The company's capital plans include both Maryland and North Carolina. In Silver Spring, Maryland, plans call for the construction of a $65 million, six-story, 122,000-square-foot building equipped for biomedical research and development. Ewing Cole (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is the project architect.

View Project Report - 300128612

In North Carolina, the company launched construction earlier this year on its $50 million "Xeno" project in Durham. On the 140-acre former GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE:GSK) (Brentford, England) site, and adjacent to its own existing campus, the company is building a 230,000-square-foot, star-shaped (central hub with six spokes), Designated Pathogen-Free (DPF) facility to process swine lungs for human transplantation. Ewing Cole, Mulkey Engineers (Cary, North Carolina) and DPR Construction (Morrisville, North Carolina) are all on board to have the facility completed in the early autumn of 2016.

View Project Report - 300082498

Another project at the United Therapeutics Durham site is the $18 million renovation of 70,000 square feet of space to accommodate cardiovascular regenerative medicine research. Project team members include CRB Consulting (Cary) and The Whiting Turner Contracting Company (Baltimore, Maryland), with construction to be wrapped up this month.

View Project Report - 300139496

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, three offices in North America and 10 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle™, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities.