It's a Wrap: 18 New Pharma-Bio Facilities Complete Construction in 1Q08

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Reported by Annette Kreuger, Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The first three months of 2008 saw 18 new pharmaceutical-biotech sites wrap up construction throughout North America. The projects included research and development laboratories and full-scale manufacturing plants. The current capital-spending trends within the industry were definitely reflected within the first-quarter results, with projects sourced out of the medical device sector, the federal government, universities and contract manufacturers (CMOs). All of the new construction activity was drawn from a recent analysis of new plant development monitored in Industrial Info's Pharmaceutical Tracker.

Click on the image at right to view the New Pharmaceutical-Biotech Industry Plants- Based on 1Q08 Start-Up Chart.

Collectively, these 18 sites represent a potential total investment value (TIV) of $1.4 billion. Par for this "pricy to build" industry, this translates to an impressive per-site TIV average of $77 million. The TIV figure includes both the cost of construction for the new plant, as well as identified potential future growth at the site. The projects ran the gamut from grassroot construction to revamping an existing building. The latter is a trend that is becoming increasingly common as Big Pharma sheds plants and younger life science companies bag a bargain, often paying a fraction of what it would cost to build from the ground up. An added bonus with such transactions is the ready availability of experienced employees within the immediate area, all anxious to avoid what happens after the Big Pharma severance pay runs out.

A regional perspective shows the Great Lakes remains great at attracting life science investment. The region added four sites with the potential for 900 jobs. Amylin Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMLN) (San Diego, California) accounts for the lion's share of new first-quarter employment with the opening of its new manufacturing plant in Westchester, Ohio. The company initially invested $84 million, out of an eventual $400 million TIV, to renovate and expand a 150,000-square-foot building for the production of diabetes drug exenatide and other products.

A look at Canada offers the opening of Pharm Eng Technology (Markham, Ontario) subsidiary Keata Pharma's plant in Sydney, Nova Scotia. The CMO company invested nearly $13 million to offer solid and liquid-dose capacity. A further investment of at least $5 million is possible for the site that would offer other dosage forms.

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Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is a marketing information service specializing in industrial process, energy and financial related markets with products and services ranging from industry news, analytics, forecasting, plant and project databases, as well as multimedia services.