New England Has $9 Billion Worth of Reasons to Embrace the Pharmaceutical-Biotech Industry

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Reported by Annette Kreuger, Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--North America has nearly 1,300 active Pharmaceutical-Biotech capital and maintenance projects with a total investment value (TIV) of $57 billion. According to a recent analysis of Industrial Info's Pharmaceutical-Biotech Industry database, the New England region reigns in the top spot with a $9 billion slice of that spending.

Click on the image at right to view a chart showing the breakdown of active life science projects in the New England region.

New England has long been a favorite of the industry, hosting an impressive roster of the top biotech and pharmaceutical companies, along with nascent but promising start-ups. The region's attractions include formidable intellectual capacity and strong governmental support. The projects in play range from $1 million annual maintenance (MRO) programs all the way up to an $800 million grassroot capital project. Project activity varies from early planning to active construction status.

The region includes the states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont. Of these, Massachusetts is the leader in attracting industry spending, with nearly $7 billion invested into 66 active projects. The "Bay State" could surely claim honors as the "Bio State," as it is the site of the region's two largest industry investments, which total $1.4 billion.

An interesting aspect of the state's two top projects is the fact that they are true industry investments, rather than public jobs. Industry naysayers and reinvention aside, the pharmaceutical-biotech sector is still spending money and lots of it.

The $800 million project now going up on Fan Pier in Boston for Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) (Cambridge, Massachusetts) is the result of the company's lengthy negotiations with the developer, the Fallon Company. Construction is under way on what will be two 18-story LEED-certified buildings of 500,000 square feet each. Fallon will lease the facilities back to Vertex. Project team members include Elkus Manfredi Architects (Boston, Massachusetts), Tsoi/Kobus & Associates (Cambridge, Massachusetts) and Turner Construction (Boston, Massachusetts).

Swiss drug giant Novartis' (NYSE:NVS) is constructing a $600 million expansion project at its Institutes for Biomedical Research division in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Under a lease agreement with Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the company is renovating a 33,000-square-foot facility and building two more, including one at seven stories that is 262,000 square feet, and another at eight stories that is 277,000 square feet. The project team includes Cannon Design (Boston, Massachusetts) and Skanska USA (Boston), and the goal is to achieve a LEED Gold certification for the new buildings.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, and eight offices outside of North America, 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.