Pharmaceutical-Biotech Industry to Wrap Up Year with $4.5 Billion Investment in Fourth-Quarter 2014 Project Starts

Reported by Annette Kreuger, Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--By the end of 2014, the Pharmaceutical-Biotech Industry is forecast to have begun $4.5 billion in capital and maintenance (MRO) projects. A recent survey of Industrial Info's project database returned 251 active North American projects with a total investment value (TIV) of $4.5 billion that are scheduled to begin construction during the fourth quarter of 2014. The projects are scattered throughout the North America and represent an average project TIV of $18 million.

Click on the image at right to see a chart detailing fourth-quarter project starts in the North American Pharmaceutical-Biotech Industry by region.

The 2014 TIV numbers translate to a 33% increase over the same timeframe last year, when $3 billion was spent on initiating 200 projects. Does this jump signify the beginning of huge uptick in the industry's project activity? Probably not--it is more likely that larger projects are finally getting capital approval so that they can proceed. Anytime the numbers move up, it is a good thing, and the spending more likely an indicator the industry chaos of the past few years is perhaps settling down a bit.

The Great Lakes claims the regional lead with 39 fourth-quarter project starts carrying a TIV of $900 billion. The projects in play include Bocchi Laboratories' (Santa Clarita, California) $20 million project in New Albany, Ohio, to build a grassroot personal care products contract manufacturing (CMO) plant. The Pizzuti Companies (Columbus, Ohio) is on board as the design-build firm. Plans call for the construction of a 130,000-square-foot plant for the contract production of gels, lotions, shampoos and other related personal-care products.

View Project Report - 300166591

A total of 15 projects representing $800 million in investments put New England into the second spot. Regional projects include a $21 million plan from GE Healthcare Life Sciences (Piscataway, New Jersey), a subsidiary of General Electric (NYSE:GE) (Fairfield, Connecticut) to renovate and equip 160,000 square feet of space within the former Hewlett-Packard complex in Marlborough, Massachusetts. The facility will focus on biological and cell therapy research and development, cell imaging and processing, and reagents. Project team members include architect Symmes Maini & McKee Associates (Cambridge, Massachusetts) and Suffolk Construction (Danvers, Massachusetts).

View Project Report - 300178690

The Southeast rounds out the top three with $721 million in project activity divided over 44 projects. Baxter International's (NYSE:BAX) (Deerfield, Illinois) Gambro Renal (Opelika, Alabama) is spending $300 million to expand kidney (hemodialysis) dialyzers production. CRB Consulting Engineers (Cary, North Carolina) is overseeing both design and construction management of the project, building a 230,000-square-foot facility equipped to more than double the site's existing production capacity from 10 million units per year to 28 million.

View Project Report - 300178219

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.