Texas Round-Up: Lone Star State Ropes in More than $4 Billion in Active Capital Project Investment from Pharmaceutical-Biotech Sector

Reported by Annette Kreuger, Industrial Info Resources, Incorporated (Sugar Land, Texas)--While more commonly known as the land where oil and chemical industry workers roam, Texas is steadily becoming home to a growing number of scientists from the pharmaceutical and biotech fields. A recent survey of all active capital projects within the state, and sourced from the sector, revealed a healthy mix of 56 public and private projects with a staggering total investment value (TIV) of $4.15 billion.

Click on the image at right to view a breakdown of Texas Pharma-Biotech spending by county.

Underscoring the truth to the old adage "everything is bigger in Texas," the projects carry an impressive average TIV of $73 million. Of course, this figure is skewed, due to a couple extremely large projects on the books. Of the 56 active projects, 28 (TIV $2.7 billion) have a future construction kick-off date.

Spending spans the state, with a number of countries hosting projects with a TIV topping $25 million. Harris County, home to Houston and the renowned Texas Medical Center, has snagged the majority of current planned spending activity.

Harris County lays claim to 13 active projects, all of which are in various stages of development, representing a TIV of $1.4 billion. While institutionally sourced projects account for the majority of the projects, a number of manufacturers are making capital investments. One recent plum for the area was the Lonza Group's (Basil, Switzerland) decision to consider a location within Harris County for a $65 million, 100,000 square-foot, grassroot viral gene therapies & virally modified cell therapies contract manufacturing (CMO) plant.

After a fierce contest with other states, Texas A&M (College Station) landed a major industry project, the $91 million Pandemic Influenza Facility (PIF). Spearheaded by the university and industry giant GlaxoSmithKline's (NYSE:GSK) (Brentford, England) Biological division, the project was funded in part by the federal government to build one of three national centers focusing on vaccine development and manufacturing against emerging infectious diseases, including pandemic influenza, and chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear threats. PIF is located within Texas A&M's Center for Innovation in Advanced Development and Manufacturing (CIADM).

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