Much Ado About Something: Pharma-Biotech Industry Investing Billions in Western Europe Facility Buildup

Reported by Annette Kreuger, Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--While the entire life science sector, including the pharmaceuticals, biotech and medical device industries, continues its healthy capital expenditures (capex) investment in North America, there has been a noticeable uptick in Western European activity. Even with global industry reporting at the limited beta level, a quick search of the Industrial Info Pharmaceutical-Biotech Database reveals 10 active projects valued at more than $2.5 billion.

See chart below for active Pharmaceutical-Biotech projects in in Western Europe.

The very nature of the projects is a great representation of the industry's diverse and global pedigree. From contact lenses to biological drug development and production, each of the companies reported on have a strong North American presence as well.

Drawing from these 10 projects, all in various stages of development, the average total investment value is a stunning $250 million per project. The actual individual investment ranges from $30 million to $900 million.

The largest of the group is the $900 million Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMS)(New York City, New York) project in Cruiserath, Ireland. Shopping around globally before finally settling on a hundred-acre site adjacent to its existing active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) plant, the company will build a large-scale biological production facility. With six 15,000-liter bioreactors (90,000-liter total capacity) and purification area, the 300,000-square-foot plant will manufacture multiple therapies from the company's growing biologics portfolio.

Jacobs Engineering Group (NYSE:JEC) (Pasadena, California) has been brought on board to provide architecture and engineering services, while working closely with Bristol-Myers Squibb project engineers in New Jersey. Current plans call for the new plant to be complete in early 2019 and eventually employ 400.

Earning second place, Swiss drug giant Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)(Basel, Switzerland) chose Stein, Switzerland, to invest $550 million in a solid dose and sterile production replacement plant. The new plant replaces an older facility in Stein and is scheduled to become operational in 2016. The Stein campus is the largest pharmaceutical manufacturing site for the Novartis pharma division, producing more than 4 billion units (tablets, capsules, ampoules, vials and transdermal therapeutic systems (patches)) annually for the global market.

Rounding out the top three is AstraZeneca plc's (NYSE:AZN) (London, England) $500 million project in Cambridge, England. In addition to the new corporate headquarters, the 11-acre site will be the location of a new Global Research Center, focusing on small molecules, biologics and protein engineering. Herzog & De Meuron Project team members include Herzog & De Meuron Architects (Basel, Switzerland) and Skanska UK plc (Rickmansworth, England), who plan to complete construction at the site late next year.

Project ID	Project TIV	Project Name
300191245	$900,000,000	DUBLIN CRUISERATH BIOLOGICS PLANT ADDITION
300072903	$550,000,000	STEIN SOLID DOSE AND ASEPTIC PHARMACEUTICALS REPLACEMENT PLANT ADDITION
300205166	$500,000,000	CAMBRIDGE GRASSROOT GLOBAL RESEARCH CENTRE SMALL MOLECULE AND BIOLOGICALS
300133339	$300,000,000	LIMERICK COMMERCIAL-SCALE BIOLOGICS PLANT ADDITION
300141117	$106,300,000	PENZBERG BIOPHARMACEUTICAL PRODUCTION UNIT MODERNIZATION
300192085	$55,000,000	WATERFORD CONTACT LENS PRODUCTION & PACKAGING LINES ADDITION/CAPACITY EXPANSION
300160081	$50,000,000	LIMERICK BIOLOGIC FILL AND FINISH PLANT ADDITION
300205642	$38,600,000	MONTROSE PHARMACEUTICAL APIS PLANT EXPANSION
300141128	$38,520,000	PENZBERG BIOPHARMACEUTICAL R&D LABORATORY EXPANSION AND MODERNIZATION
300144941	$30,000,000	CORK MEDICAL DEVICE INNOVATION RESEARCH CENTRE ADDITION

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.