Pharma-Bio Bricks n' Mortar Update: $6+ Billion Investment in North American Project Starts for 2Q16

Reported by Annette Kreuger, Industrial Info Resources, Incorporated (Sugar Land, Texas)--When June 2016 draws to a close, the North American Pharmaceutical-Biotech Industry is forecast to have launched over $6 billion worth of capital and maintenance projects during the previous three months. This activity is divided over 183 projects.

Click on image at right for breakdown of North American capital and maintenance projects in the Pharmaceutical-Biotech Industry in second-quarter 2016 by market region.

An analysis by Industrial Info's Pharmaceutical Tracker Online Database of active capital and maintenance (MRO) projects reveals an 11% jump in spending--from 2Q15's $5.6 billion total investment value (TIV) to $6.2 billion for 2Q16--representing a gain of $600 million. In terms of actual project counts, another gain is found, with the number moving up to 183 from the 133 launched in the same time period last year.

What is even more encouraging about the second-quarter 2016 statistics is that last year the total investment value (TIV) was boosted by the launch of a $1.25 billion National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF) being built in Manhattan, Kansas. Despite this quarter lacking a project even approaching that level of investment, industry figures still increased.

Click here to access the 2016 Pharmaceutical--Biotech Industry North American Outlook.

This quarter's average TIV for each of the 183 projects is $34 million, a slight decrease from $42 million for second-quarter 2015. Nothing to be alarmed about, when attributing last year's higher project TIV to the $1.2 billion NBAF.

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The types of projects in planning for second-quarter 2016 vary wildly in price and purpose. Projects range from $1 million for a standard maintenance program to several hundred million for a university research building. Geographically, the industry is sharing the wealth, with every region hosting some sort of construction activity.

In Portsmouth, New Hampshire, the Lonza Group's (Basel, Switzerland) biologics division is planning a $125 million, 140,000 square-foot fit-up project to boost production capacity for contract production of monoclonal antibodies and other products. Termed the Mono 1 project, the activity is part of a huge ongoing expansion/renewal program at the site.

In Foster City, California, as part of Gilead Sciences' (NASDAQ:GILD) master plan for its 72-acre South Campus, the company will demolish an existing 29,000 square-foot laboratory building and replace it with a 6-story, approximately 231,000 square-foot one. The new lab will be outfitted to conduct research and development of therapeutics for the treatment of hepatitis B & C, HIV/AIDS, cardiovascular diseases (including angina) and other related remedies.

Although the majority of the referenced projects will go to construction, there remains a chance that any of them may be cancelled, delayed or put on hold at any moment. Such is the nature of virtually any construction project. Industrial Info's Pharmaceutical-Biotech Database coverage includes both manufacturing facilities and research laboratories. In addition to commercial operations, the public sector is included, due to its enormous volume of capital spending.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, five 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. Follow IIR on: Facebook - Twitter - LinkedIn. For more information on our coverage, send inquiries to info@industrialinfo.com or visit us online at http://www.industrialinfo.com/.